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IC 


8989 






Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1984 



V 



Phosphate Rock Availability— World 

A Minerals Availability Program Appraisal 



By R. J. Fantei, T. F. Anstett, G. R. Peterson, 
K. E. Porter, and D. E. Sullivan 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 



^^^{l^^JiJMJir ■ ^UAJUM. rf¥^^ 



Information Circular 8989 



Phosphate Rock Availability— World 

A Minerals Availability Program Appraisal 



By R. J. Fantel, T. F. Anstett, G. R. Peterson, 
K. E. Porter, and D. E. Sullivan 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
William P. Clark, Secretary 

BUREAU OF MINES 
Robert C. Horton. Director 









Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: 



Phosphate rock availability— world. 

(Bureau of Mines information circular ; 8989) 

Bibliography: p. 55-56. 

Supt. of Docs, no.: I 28.27:8989. 

1. Phosphate industry. 2. Phosphate mines and mining. I. Fan- 
tel, R. J. (Richard J.), II. Series: Information circular (United States. 
Bureau of Mines) ; 8989. 



TN295,U4 [HD9585.P482] 622s [333.8'5] 84-600128 



^ PREFACE 

k) 

^ The Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability Program is assessing the 

Ji' worldwide availability of nonfuel minerals. The program identifies, 

iV, collects, compiles, and evaluates Information on active and developing 

mines, explored deposits, and mineral processing plants worldwide. Ob- 
jectives are to classify domestic and foreign' resources; to identify by 
k cost evaluation, resources that are reserves; and to prepare analyses 

of mineral availabilities. 

This report is part of a continuing series of Division of Minerals 
Availability reports to analyze the availability of minerals from do- 
mestic and foreign sources and those factors affecting availability. 
Analyses of other minerals are in progress. Questions about the Miner- 
als Availability Program should be addressed to Chief, Division of Min- 
erals Availability, Bureau of Mines, 2401 E St., NW. , Washington, DC 
20241. 



iii 



CONTENTS 

Page 

Preface 1 

Abstract 1 

Introduction 2 

Acknowledgments 2 

World phosphate industry 3 

Production 3 

Exports 5 

Objective 6 

Evaluation methodology 7 

Geology and resources 10 

North America 12 

United States 12 

Canada 13 

Mexico 14 

North Africa 14 

Morocco '. 14 

Western Sahara 16 

Algeria 16 

Tunisia 16 

Middle East 17 

Egypt 17 

Iraq 17 

Israel 18 

Jordan 18 

Saudi Arabia 18 

Syria 18 

Turkey 18 

Oceania 18 

Australia and Christmas Island 18 

Nauru 20 

South America 20 

Brazil 20 

Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela 21 

West Africa 22 

Senegal 22 

Togo 22 

Southern Africa 23 

Asia 23 

Europe 24 

Centrally planned economy countries 25 

U.S.S.R 25 

China 26 

Mining and processing of phosphate 28 

Mining methods 28 

Surface 28 

Strip level 29 

Open pit 29 

Dredging 29 

Underground 29 

Room and pillar 29 

Overhand stoping 30 

Longwall caving 30 



XV 



CONTENTS — Continued 



Page 



Benef Iclatlon methods 30 

Sizing 31 

Washing 31 

Flotation 32 

Calcining 33 

Drying 33 

Byproducts 33 

Phosphate deposit costs 34 

Costing methodology 34 

Production costs 35 

Capital costs 38 

Comparison of Florida and Moroccan costs 38 

Phosphate rock availability 40 

Economic evaluation methodology 40 

Total availability 41 

Market economy countries 42 

Centrally planned economy countries 43 

Annual availability 44 

Effect of transportation 50 

Conclusions 32 

References 55 

Appendix A. — Phosphoric acid production and costs 57 

Appendix B. — World phosphate deposit information of those deposits included 

in the study 60 

Appendix C, — Present research in phosphate 65 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

1. 1981 world production of phosphate rock, by region 3 

2. Share of world phosphate rock production in 1961, 1971, and 1981: 

United States, Morocco, and U.S.S.R 3 

3. Principal 1981 world exports of phosphate rock 5 

4 . Flow chart of evaluation procedure 8 

5. Mineral resource classification categories 9 

6. Demonstrated phosphate rock resources, by region and geologic type 12 

7 . Location map , North American deposits 13 

8. Location map, north African deposits 15 

9 . Location map , Moroccan deposits 15 

10. Location map. Middle Eastern deposits 17 

11. Location map, Nauru and Christmas Island deposits 19 

12. Location map, Australian (Georgina Basin) deposits 19 

13. Location map. South American deposits 21 

14. Location map, west African deposits 22 

1 5 . Location map , southern African deposits 23 

16. Location map, U.S.S.R. and Finland deposits 24 

17. Location map, Chinese deposits 27 

18. Typical Florida phosphate washing circuit 31 

19. Typical process flowsheet. Southeastern United States, incorporating 

f lotation process 32 

20. Typical process flowsheet. Western United States, incorporating 

calcining process 33 



ILLUSTRATIONS — Continued 



Page 



21. Production costs for selected world phosphate surface mines and deposits. 37 

22. Production costs for selected world phosphate underground mines and 

deposits 38 

23. Phosphate rock potentially recoverable from all mines and deposits in 

market economy countries 42 

24. Phosphate rock potentially recoverable from producing mines and nonpro- 

ducing deposits in market economy countries 44 

25. Potential annual production from producing mines in market economy coun- 

tries at various cost levels 45 

26. Potential annual production from developing mines and explored deposits 

in market economy countries at various cost levels 48 

27. Phosphate rock potentially recoverable from all mines and deposits in 

market economy countries 50 

A-1 . Wet-process phosphoric acid 58 

TABLES 

1. World production of phosphate rock, by region and country 4 

2. International trade in phosphate rock, 1981 6 

3. Summary of world demonstrated phosphate resources as of January 1981 11 

4. Phosphate mill plant operating parameters, by region 31 

5. Production costs for selected world phosphate surface mines and deposits. 36 

6. Production costs for selected world phosphate underground mines and 

deposits 38 

7. Capital costs to develop nonproducing surface phosphate mines in selected 

world countries 39 

8. Comparison of nonproducing Florida and Morocco surface phosphate deposit 

costs 39 

9. Estimated potential annual production capacities in market economy coun- 

tries by 1983 46 

10. Estimated potential annual production capacities in market economy coun- 

tries by 1995 47 

11. Estimated potential annual production capacities for undeveloped deposits 

at an average total production cost of less than $100 per ton of phos- 
phate rock in the year A^+IO, by country 49 

12. Assumed destinations for phosphate rock, by country 51 

13. Comparison of average total costs per metric ton of phosphate rock, 

f.o.b. mill and f.o.b. port or acid plant, by major producing region.... 52 

14. World phosphate rock shipping charges 53 

A-1. Phosphoric acid production costs, by region 59 





UNIT OF MEASURE ABBREVIATIONS USED IN 


THIS REPORT 


in 


inch m 


meter 


km 


kilometer m^ 


cubic meter 


km2 


square kilometer wt ' % 


weight percent 



PHOSPHATE ROCK AVAILABILITY— WORLD 

A Minerals Availability Program Appraisal 

By R. J. Fantel, ^ T. F, Anstett, ^ G. R. Peterson,^ 
K. E, Porter,-^ and D, E. Sullivan'* 



ABSTRACT 

The Bureau of Mines investigated the resource potential of 201 mines 
and deposits in 28 market economy countries and 17 mines and deposits 
in the U.S.S.R. and China. The 201 mines and deposits evaluated from 
market economy countries contain an estimated 34.2 billion metric tons 
of recoverable phosphate rock (at the demonstrated resource level) , 
with Morocco and Western Sahara accounting for 61% (21 billion tons), 
followed by the United States with 19% (6.4 billion tons). The 17 
mines and deposits evaluated in the U.S.S.R. and China contain approxi- 
mately 1.5 billion tons of potentially recoverable phosphate rock. 

Potential annual capacity from low-cost, high-grade producing mines 
in the United States is estimated to decline significantly during the 
latter half of the next decade, and the United States will have to de- 
velop new, higher cost, lower grade mines in order to satisfy demand 
into the next century. Of the world's new production capacity which 
could likely be developed over the next decade, slightly over one-third 
could be produced at an estimated 1981 cost of $40 per ton or less, and 
about two-thirds would cost in the $40 to $50 range (including a 15% 
rate of return) . In comparison, most of the competing phosphate rock 
from producing mines in Morocco could be produced for under $40 per 
ton. 

The United States has sufficient demonstrated resources of phosphate 
rock (plus huge quantities at the identified and hypothetical resource 
levels) to satisfy domestic consumption for many years to come, but its 
future ability to compete in the major export markets against low-cost 
competitors is much more uncertain. 



^ Geologist. 
^Mineral economist. 
^Mining engineer. 
^Economist. 
Minerals Availability Field Office, Bureau of Mines, Denver, CO. 



INTRODUCTION 



Phosphate rock, the only significant 
commercial source of the element phospho- 
rus, is of vital importance to an expand- 
ing agricultural sector worldwide. Phos- 
phorus, nitrogen, and potassium are the 
three primary nutrients necessary for 
plant growth. When these elements are 
either lacking or depleted from the soil, 
their addition is necessary to rees- 
tablish high agricultural yields. The 
growth of world agricultural production 
partially depends on the availability of 
phosphate fertilizers. 

Phosphate rock consists of the calcium 
phosphate mineral apatite, with quartz, 
calcite, dolomite, clay, and iron oxide 
as the gangue constituents. Following 
industry practice, the term "phosphate 
rock" is defined in this paper as the 
beneficiated product of phosphate ore 
rather than the in situ material. After 
benef iciation, phosphate rock ranges from 
26% to about 34% P2O5 (phosphorus pent- 
oxide) . Phosphate rock can be converted 
to phosphoric acid by the wet process, 
converted to elemental phosphorus in an 
electric furnace, or applied directly to 
acidic soils as direct-application ferti- 
lizer. The acceptability of phosphate 
rock for wet-process acid production is 
affected by the amounts of aluminum, 
iron, magnesium, and chloride in the con- 
centrates. Phosphate rock containing 
more than 1% magnesium oxide (MgO) , more 
than 3.5% iron oxide plus aluminum oxide, 
or more than 0.2% chlorine can cause 
problems in the manufacture of wet- 
process phosphoric acid. 

Most of the phosphate rock produced 
in the world is used to manufacture 
wet-process phosphoric acid. Phosphoric 



acid is produced by digesting the apatite 
mineral, i.e., phosphate rock, in sulfu- 
ric acid. Diammonium phosphate (DAP), a 
common bulk blending-grade fertilizer 
chemical, is produced by reacting phos- 
phoric acid with ammonia. If the phos- 
phate rock is reacted with phosphoric 
acid, triple superphosphate (TSP) is pro- 
duced. When wet-process phosphoric acid 
is subjected to evaporation, a higher 
concentration of phosphoric acid is pro- 
duced, which when reacted with ammonia 
produces a liquid ammonium phosphate 
fertilizer (j_).^ 

Phosphate animal feed supplements are 
produced by the def luorinization of ei- 
ther phosphate rock or phosphoric acid. 
Lime is reacted with def luorinated phos- 
phoric acid to produce dicalcium phos- 
phate. Phosphate rock at proper condi- 
tions and compaction is def luorinated in 
kilns at high temperature. These phos- 
phate animal feeds are necessary supple- 
ments to assure nutritional quality of 
livestock diets (J^) . 

Elemental phosphorus is produced by re- 
ducing phosphoric rock in electric fur- 
naces and is marketed as is , or oxidized 
to produce anhydrous derivations and 
phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid pro- 
duced from elemental phosphorus is com- 
monly used to manufacture sodium tripoly- 
phosphate, a detergent builder. 

In countries with acidic soils , such as 
Brazil, phosphate rock can be ground, 
sold, and distributed for direct appli- 
cation with limited improvements in 
soil productivity compared with applica- 
tions of high-analysis soluble phosphate 
fertilizers. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Data for the foreign mines and de- 
posits in the evaluation were provided 
by Zellars-Williams , Inc., under con- 
tract J0100122. Data for mines and de- 
posits in the Southeastern United States 
were developed by the former Bureau of 
Mines Eastern Field Operations Center 
in Pittsburgh, PA, in conjunction with 



Zellars-Williams, Inc. Data for the 
Western United States were developed by 
Bureau of Mines Field Operations Centers 
in Denver, CO, and Spokane, WA. 

^Underlined numbers in parentheses re- 
fer to items in the list of references 
preceding the appendixes. 



WORLD PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY 



PRODUCTION 

Phosphate rock, was produced in 29 coun- 
tries during 1981 (table 1 and figure 
1). The three main producers, the United 
States, the U.S.S.R., and Morocco, 
produced 104 million tons,^ which was 72% 
of total world production. World produc- 
tion during 1981 was over 145 million 
tons — over 73% more than in 1971, and 
more than three times as much as in 1961. 

Production from market economy coun- 
tries^ was just over 100 million tons 

^Unless otherwise noted, "tons" in this 
report refer to metric tons. 

'Market economy countries are defined 
by the Bureau of Mines as all countries 
that are not centrally planned economy 
countries. Centrally planned economy 
countries compries the following: 



Albania 

Bulgaria 

China 

Cuba 

Czechoslovakia 

German 

Democratic Republic 
Hungary 



Kampuchea 

Korea, North 

Laos 

Mongolia 

Poland 

Romania 

U.S.S.R. 

Vietnam 



during 1981, which was 70% of world pro- 
duction. During 1961 and 1971, produc- 
tion from countries with market economies 
was approximately 78% and 74% of world 
production, respectively. This shows a 
decline in the share of world production 
from market economy countries during the 
20 years preceding 1981. Figure 2 illus- 
trates the share of world phosphate rock 
production from the three major producing 
nations for the years 1961, 1971, and 
1981. 



South Amenco 
2% 




Australia, Oceonio, and 
Far East 
2% 
Other market economy 
countries 
1% 



Total = 145,540,000 metric tons 



FIGURE 1, - 1981 world production of phosphate 
rock, by region. 



1961 



1971 



1981 



/ United States X 


/ United States X 


/ \ United States \ 


^\^ 42% \ 


A^^ 42 7o \ 


L / Morocco \ 


37 % \ 


Morocco ^s^ 


\ Morocco ^\^^ 


/ 14% ^ 


\ ] 


1 8 %, y\ 


1 1 4 /o ^^.,>'^ 




\ 


X \ U.S.S.R. 


1 Y^^^^"^ \ U.S.S.R. i 


\ 


\ U.S.S.R. / 


^ Other \ 19°/° / 


\ Other \ 23% / 


\ Other 
\ 28%> 


\ 2 1 % / 


\ 21%, \ / 


\ 21% \ y 


\ 


\ / 



Total = 45,299,000 
naetric tons 



Total = 83,860,000 
metric tons 



Total =145,540,000 
nnetric tons 



FIGURE 2* - Shore of world phosphate rock production in 1961, 1971, and 1981: United States, Morocco, and 
U.S.S.R. 



TABLE 1. - World production of phosphate rock, by region and country' (2-5) 

(Thousand metric tons) 



Region and country' 



1961 



1971 



1981 



Market economy countries: 
North America: 

Mexico 

Netherlands Antilles (Curacao), 

United States 

Total^ , 

South America: 

Brazil 

Chile 

Colombia 

Venezuela 

Total^ , 

North Africa: 

Algeria 

Morocco and Western Sahara. ... 

Tunisia 

Total^ 

Other African countries: 

Senegal 

South Africa, Republic of 



Togo. 



Uganda 

Zimbabwe 

Total5 

Middle East: 

Egypt 

Israel 

Jordan 

Syria 

Turkey , 

Total^ , 

Oceania and Far East: 

Australia 

Christmas Island 

Indones ia 

Kiribati (Banaba Island, formerly Ocean Island), 

Makatea Island (French Oceania) 

Nauru , 

Philippines , 

Total 5 , 

Miscellaneous countries: 

Belgium 

Finland 

France , 

Germany, Federal Republic of 

India 

Sweden^ , 

Total^ , 

Total market economy countries^ , 

Centrally planned economy countries: 

Chinae , 



Korea, Norths. 

Poland 

U.S.S.R.e 



Vietnam^ 

Total centrally planned economy countries^. 
Total world ^ 



29 

143 

18,856 



19,029 



659 

14 





674 



440 
7,949 
1,981 



10,370 



574 

297 

118 







961 



627 

226 

423 







1,275 



5 

705 

10 

343 

381 

1,303 





2,747 



14 


81 


20 




116 



35,172 



508 

152 

47 

8,799 

622 



10,127 



^Estimated. 

'Purely guano deposits not included on this table. 

^Some producing countries may not be listed because of small quantities. 

^Data may not add to totals shown because of independent rounding. 

^Swedish material is byproduct apatite concentrate derived from iron ore 



45,299 



58 

156 

35,270 



35,484 



200 



10 

25 



235 



495 

12,006 

3,161 



15,662 



1,545 

1,233 

1,715 

16 

105 



4,614 



713 

765 

569 

6 





2,053 



6 
990 


619 


1,867 

5 



3,487 







19 

60 

243 





322 



61,856 



2,177 

272 



19,002 

553 



22,004 



83,860 



355 



53,624 



53,979 



2,637 

9 





2,646 



858 

19,696 

4,596 



25,150 



2,017 

2,910 

2,244 



125 



7,296 



700 

2,373 

4,244 

1,321 

43 



8,681 



15 

1,422 

5 





2,000 

16 



3,458 





130 

25 



550 

75 



780 



101,990 



11,500 

550 



30,950 
550 



43,550 



145,540 



Phosphate production from North Ameri- 
ca, primarily the United States, was 
about 54 million tons in 1981. This was 
over 52% of the total production from 
market economy countries. During 1961, 
North America produced about 54% of the 
market economy total and during 19 71 over 
57%. Production from South America was 
less than 3 million tons during 1981, 
less than 2% of total market economy 
production. 

Phosphate rock production from north 
Africa, over three-fourths of which was 
from Morocco, was 25 million tons dur- 
ing 1981. This was almost 25% of market 
economy production, nearly the same per- 
cent as 10 years ago. Twenty years ago, 
the north African share was almost 30%. 
Other African countries produced over 7 
million tons during 1981, which was more 
than 5% of market economy output. These 
countries produced 7% 10 years ago, while 
20 years ago they produced less than 3% 
of market economy production. 

Phosphate rock production from coun- 
tries in the Middle Eastern area, includ- 
ing Egypt and Turkey, was over 8 million 
tons during 1981, over 8% of market econ- 
omy production. This share of market 
economy production is double that of 10 
and 20 years ago. 

Phosphate rock from Australia and Oce- 
ania during 1981 was over 3 million tons, 
which was over 3% of market economy pro- 
duction. The share of phosphate rock 
production from this area has declined 
from almost 6% during 19 71 and almost 8% 
during 1961. 

Production from other market economy 
countries historically totals less than 
1% of total market economy production. 

Phosphate rock production from central- 
ly planned economy countries was over 43 
million tons during 1981. This was 30% 
of world production, up from 26% during 
1971 and 22% during 1961. The U.S.S.R. 
produced almost 31 million tons during 
1981, over 71% of production from cen- 
trally planned economy countries. China 



produced over 11 millions tons, which is 
over 26% of centrally planned economy 
production. Production from centrally 
planned economy countries increased at a 
faster rate than production from the 
world as a whole between 1961 and 1981. 

EXPORTS 

World trade in phosphate rock during 
1981 is shown in table 2 (2) and illus- 
trated in figure 3. The table shows the 
destination of phosphate rock from eight 
major exporting areas to the major im- 
porting area of each. It must be noted 
that this table only shows exports of 
phosphate rock and not phosphoric acid or 
other processed products, and that these 
are to major importing areas and may omit 
small-volume exports to other areas. The 
phosphate rock that is not exported di- 
rectly by a country is either consumed 
domestically or exported after further 
processing. 

The table shows that during 1981, prin- 
cipal exports of the United States to- 
taled nearly 9 million tons of phosphate 
rock, almost 17% of 1981 production. 
Morocco exported almost 15 million tons 
of phosphate rock, which was over 76% of 
its 1981 production. Algeria and Tunisia 
together exported 1.6 million tons, more 
than 29% of their combined domestic 




Total expofts= 41,400,000 metrictons 



FIGURE 3. - Principal 1981 world exports of phos- 
phate rock. 



TABLE 2. - International trade In phosphate rock, 1981 (2) 



(Includes only principal exporting sources and destinations) 



Exporting source and 
destination of exports 

United States: 

Western Europe 

Canada 

Asia 

South America 

Eastern Europe 

Total 

Morocco: 

Western Europe 

Eastern Europe 

South America 

Asia 

Total 

Algeria and Tunisia: 

Eastern Europe 

Western Europe 

Total 

Israel and Jordan: 

Asia 

Eastern Europe 

Western Europe 

Total 



Quantity, 10^ 
metric tons 



3,525 

3,200 

1,486 

481 

254 



8,946 

10,181 

2,848 

1,103 

859 

14,991 

807 

794 

1,601 

1,962 
1,438 
1,431 
4,831 



production, Israel and Jordan together 
exported almost 5 million tons, which is 
83% of their combined production, Sene- 
gal exported 1 million tons, almost 52% 
of production. Togo exported over 2 mil- 
lion tons, almost 95% of production. The 
U.S.S.R, exported over 5 million tons, 
about 16% of production. The Pacific Is- 
lands exported almost 3 million tons, 
100% of production. 

The United States exported significant 
quantities of chemical phosphate products 



Exporting source and 
destination of exports 

Senegal: 

Western Europe 

Asia 

Total 

Togo: 

Western Europe 

Eastern Europe 

Total 

U,S.S,R,: 

Eastern Europe 

Western Europe 

Total 

Pacific Islands: 

Australia 

New Zealand 

Indonesia, Republic of 
Korea, Malaysia, Singa- 
pore , and Japan 

Total 



Quantity, 10^ 
metric tons 



826 
215 



1,041 

1,393 

712 

2,105 

4,067 

948 

5,015 

1,767 
853 



231 
2,851 



during 1981, These included 1,5 million 
tons of greater than 40% superphosphates, 
2,000 tons of less than 40% superphos- 
phates, 3,9 million tons of dianmionium 
phosphates, 1 million tons of less than 
65% P2O5 phosphoric acid, 500,000 tons of 
more than 65% P2O5 phosphoric acid, and 
28,000 tons of elemental phosphorus (_3 ) , 

Morocco, which now exports mostly un- 
processed phosphate rock, has plans to 
develop acid plants to increase the value 
of the phosphate rock before export. 



OBJECTIVE 



The United States has traditionally 
been the world's largest producer and 
net exporter of phosphate rock and re- 
lated products. However, the U,S, pro- 
ducers are facing the challenge of for- 
eign competition for export markets 
(primarily from Morocco) , and rising pro- 
duction costs for Florida phosphate will 
make it more difficult to meet foreign 



competition in future years. This study 
was undertaken to assess the worldwide 
availability of phosphate rock, rec- 
ognizing the critical importance of 
phosphorus to maintain agricultural pro- 
duction; and to compare the cost of pro- 
ducing phosphate rock in the United 
States with costs in other phosphate- 
producing nations. 



A detailed study of the availability 
of phosphate from the United States, 
"Phosphate Availability — Domestic, A Min- 
erals Availability Program Appraisal," 



was recently published (6^) . The data 

concerning U.S. mines and deposits in 

this world report are all from that 
study. 



EVALUATION METHODOLOGY 



For this study, a total of 201 mines 
and deposits were evaluated (130 domestic 
and 71 foreign). These deposits include 
resources of phosphate rock, at the demon- 
strated level which can be mined and 
milled using current technology. An ad- 
ditional 17 mines and deposits in the 
U.S.S.R. and China, although not included 
in the evaluation, are discussed in this 
report. They were not included in the 
availability analysis owing to uncertain- 
ty as to the accuracy of the cost data. 

Typically, beneficiated phosphate rock 
contains 7% to 20% moisture. Currently 
many processes to convert phosphate rock 
into its numerous end uses will accept 
wet rock feed, although less than 3% 
moisture is desirable. The final product 
in this study is defined as dry phosphate 
rock. For this study, the term "phos- 
phate rock" refers to the beneficiated 
product, and "phosphate ore" refers to 
the minable material in the ground. 

For purposes of consistency, it was as- 
sumed in the evaluation that all rock 
produced at a mine was transported to a 
local port for export unless that rock 
was being used for internal domestic con- 
sumption. If internally consumed, the 
rock was transported to a nearby acid 
plant or market. Typical world phosphate 
rock shipping charges are listed in the 
availability section later in this re- 
port. Additional costs for further pro- 
cessing of phosphate rock into its many 
end products were not included in the 
evaluation, although appendix A does dis- 
cuss phosphoric acid production and re- 
lated costs throughout the world. 

The analysis methodology of this study 
follows: 

1. The quantity and grade of phosphate 
ore resources were evaluated in relation 
to physical and technological conditions 



that affect production from each deposit 
as of the study date, January 1981. 

2. The capital investments and operat- 
ing costs for appropriate mining, concen- 
trating, and processing methods were es- 
timated for each mine or deposit. 

3. An economic analysis of each opera- 
tion determined its average total produc- 
tion cost over its entire producing life 
and the associated total demonstrated 
tonnage of phosphate rock that could po- 
tentially be recovered at specific pro- 
duction levels. 

4. Upon completion of the individual 
property analyses, all properties in- 
cluded in the study were simultaneously 
analyzed and aggregated onto phosphate 
rock availability curves. These curves 
are aggregates of total potential phos- 
phate rock that could be produced over 
the life of each operation, ordered from 
the lowest cost deposits to the highest. 
The curves illustrate the comparative 
costs associated with any given level of 
potential total output and provide an es- 
timate of what the average long-run phos- 
phate rock price (in January 1981 dol- 
lars) would have to be in order for a 
given tonnage to be potentially avail- 
able. The long-run price that each oper- 
ation would require to cover its average 
total cost of phosphate rock production 
would provide revenues sufficient to 
cover the average total cost of produc- 
tion, including a return on investment 
high enough to attract new capital. The 
rate of return used in this study is a 
15% discounted cash flow rate of return 
(DCFROR) on the total investments of each 
operation. 

The data collected for this report are 
stored, retrieved, and analyzed in a com- 
puterized component of the Bureau of 
Mines Minerals Availability Program. 



After a deposit was selected for the 
analysis, an evaluation of the operation 
was begun. The flow of the Minerals 
Availability evaluation process from de- 
posit identification to analysis of 
availability information is illustrated 
in figure 4, 



measured plus indicated tonnages (fig. 
5). Generally, reserve and resource ton- 
nage and grade calculations presented in 
this paper were computed from specific 
measurements, samples, or production 
data, and from estimations made on geo- 
logic evidence. 



Selection of deposits was limited to 
known deposits that have significant dem- 
onstrated reserves or resources. Re- 
serves are material that can be mined, 
processed, and marketed at a profit under 
prevailing economic and technological 
conditions. Resources are concentrations 
of naturally occurring solid, liquid, or 
gaseous materials in the Earth's crust in 
such form that economic extraction of a 
commodity is currently or potentially 
feasible (_7 ) . Information on the indi- 
vidual phosphate mines and deposits in- 
cluded in this study (such as ownership, 
status, deposit type, grade, and capac- 
ity) is in appendix B. 

For the deposits analyzed, tonnage es- 
timates were made at the demonstrated 
resource level based on the mineral 
resource-reserve classification system 
developed jointly by the Bureau of Mines 
and the U.S. Geological Survey (_7 ) . The 
demonstrated resource category Includes 



To be included in the analysis, U.S. 
phosphate deposits had to meet technolog- 
ical criteria representing current ac- 
ceptable U.S. industry standards at the 
time of the analysis. The criteria shown 
below for the southeastern deposits 
should be viewed as guidelines rather 
than an absolute lower limit (8^) . Al- 
though not used in this study, a new set 
of criteria for classifying phosphate 
rock resources has recently been com- 
pleted (9^). In the current criteria, an 
exception is made to the deposit size 
requirement if the deposit is adjacent 
to larger identified deposits or is in a 
hardrock area. In the first three cases 
below the stipulated radius equates to 
the resource ore body covering one-half 
of the area of the deposit, at an average 
of 2,500 tons per acre (.6), 

1. Deposit size must be more than 5 
million tons of recoverable phosphate 
rock, and this rock must be within an 





dentif ication 
and 














[" Mineral ^ 
Indust r ies 1 
Location 1 
' System 1 
1 (MILS) 1 
1 data J 

« 

MAS 

compu ter 

dota 

base 


se lection 
of deposits 






















To n n g e 

and grade 

dete rmination 








P 






















^ 




Engineering 

and cost 

eva 1 u at ion 


















i 








' ^ 




Deposit 

report 

pr epora tion 


^ 


MAS 

per mane n t 

de posit 

fi Ies 




r 


1 


f 



























Data 

selection and 

va I idatlon 



Taxes, 

royalties, 

cost indexes, 

prices, etc. 



Economic 

analysis 



Dato 



Availability r 
curves 



Analytical 
reports 



Variable ond 
parameter 
adjustments 



Sensitivity 
analysis 



{y 



DotQ 



Availability 
curves 



Analyticol 
reports 



FIGURE 4. - Flow chart of evaluation procedure. 



Cumulative 
production 




IDENTIFIED RESOURCES 


UNDISCOVERED RESOURCES 


Demonstrated 


Inferred 


Probability range 


Measured 


Ind icaled 


(Or I 
Hypothetical Speculative 






ECONOMIC 








-f - 


MARGINALLY 
ECONOMIC 






SUB- 
ECONOMIC 





Other 
occurrences 



Includes nonconventional and low-grade materials 



FIGURE 5. - Mineral resource classification categories. 



average radius of 1.5 miles from the cen- 
ter of the ore body. 

2. Deposit size must be more than 10 
million tons of recoverable phosphate 
rock if the average overburden thickness 
is more than 6 m, and this rock must be 
within an average radius of 2,5 miles of 
the ore body centroid, 

3. Deposit size must be greater than 
15 million tons of recoverable phosphate 
rock if the overburden average thickness 
is more than 9 m, and this rock must be 
within an average radius of 2.5 miles 
from the center of the ore body. 

4. The flotation feed grade must be 
more than 4.6% P2O5. 

5. The concentrate grade must be more 
than 27.5% P2O5. 

6. The phosphate concentration must be 
1 ton of recoverable product per 8 m^ of 
ore. 

7. The ore zone must be more than 2 ra 
thick. 



8. Phosphate rock product must contain 
less than 1,5% magnesium oxide (MgO). 
(Resources of high-MgO phosphate deposits 
were quantified in this report and tech- 
nological developments are discussed, but 
deposits containing greater than 1% MgO 
were not evaluated in this study.) 

The following criteria for developing 
resource estimates of Tennessee phosphate 
represent a range that the central Ten- 
nessee phosphate companies recognize as 
those representing acceptable minable 
deposits (_6) : 

1, A minimum cutoff grade range of 16% 
to 17,2% P2O5. 

2, Minimum ore thickness range of 0.6 
to 1.2 m. 



3. Maximum overburden-to-ore 
range of 3:1 to 4:1. 



ratio 



4. A minimum ore body size of 22,675 
dry tons of phosphate rock. 

The average ore body is small — 150,000 
to 1.2 million tons — which means that 



10 



deposits at a number of separate loca- 
tions may have to be mined to satisfy one 
company's annual requirement. 

The study criteria for explored depos- 
its in Utah and Wyoming include a minimum 
ore thickness of 0.91 m and a minimum 
average grade of 18% P2O5. For economic 
classification, minable resources were 
further subdivided by depth, thickness, 
dip, grade, and probability of occur- 
rence. Resources above adit entry level^ 
were estimated and economically evaluated 
after site-specific corrections were ap- 
plied. The quantity of resources occur- 
ring below adit entry level was not 
costed or economically evaluated in this 
study because of its extremely high re- 
covery cost. 

The foreign deposits included in the 
analysis had to meet the following 
criteria: 

1. Producing properties accounting for 
at least 85% of the phosphate rock pro- 
duction from each significant world pro- 
ducing country. 

2. Developing and explored deposits 
where the demonstrated phosphate rock 



reserve-resource quantity was equivalent 
to at least the lower limits of the 
reserve-resource quantity of the produc- 
ing deposits. 

3. Past producing deposits where the 
remaining demonstrated phosphate rock 
reserve-resource quantity was equivalent 
to at least the lower limits of the 
reserve-resource quantity of the produc- 
ing deposits. 

Evaluation of each phosphate prop- 
erty included determining phosphate re- 
sources, deposit development, technolo- 
gies, and costs. Information on the 
average grades, ore tonnages, and differ- 
ent physical characteristics affecting 
production from domestic phosphate depos- 
its was obtained from numerous sources , 
including Bureau of Mines and Geological 
Survey publications, professional jour- 
nals. State and industry publications, 
annual reports, company lOK reports, 
prospectuses filed with the Securities 
and Exchange Commission, data made avail- 
able to the Bureau of Mines by private 
companies (domestic and foreign) or via 
contract, and estimates made by Bureau 
personnel based on personal knowledge and 
judgments. 



GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES 



Following is a discussion of the depos- 
its evaluated as part of this study. For 
nearly every country, a brief discussion 
is included for each deposit evaluated; 
however, for certain countries such as 
Morocco and the U.S.S.R., where it is 
impractical to mention each deposit indi- 
vidually, the geology and resources of 
the regions containing several deposits 
are discussed. 

Demonstrated resources used in the 
analysis are listed in table 3 and shown 
graphically on figure 6. Not all numbers 
in table 3 agree precisely with those 
contained in the text, as text numbers 

^The adit entry level is defined as the 
nearly horizontal access to the minable 
resource. The adit level also serves 
as a conduit for natural mine water 
drainage. 



were obtained directly from published 
sources , whereas the table shows numbers 
derived from data obtained for this anal- 
ysis, some of which are confidential. 
Confidential figures, however, are in- 
cluded within aggregated numbers in the 
table. 

Morocco has an enormous phosphate re- 
source, accounting for over 56% of the 
total demonstrated resource included in 
this analysis and for nearly 59% of total 
demonstrated resources in market economy 
countries. The United States is a dis- 
tant second, with approximately 19% of 
total market economy countries' demon- 
strated resources. Based on Bureau of 
Mines estimates of long-term world demand 
for phosphate rock, which is projected to 
grow at an average annual rate of 3.2% 
through the end of the century to a cumu- 
lative total of approximately 3.7 billion 



11 



TABLE 3. - Summary of world demonstrated phosphate resources as of January 1981 





In situ ore 


In situ 


Recoverable 


Rock product 


Region and county 


tonnage, 10^ 


grade. 


rock product. 


grade, wt % 




metric ton 


wt % 
P2O5 


10^ metric 
ton 


P2O5 


Market economy countries: 










North America: 










Canada 


120 

1,127 

27,462 


20 

5 

10 


35 

121 

6,382 


39 


Mexico 


31 


United States 


30 


Total 


NAp 


NAp 


6,538 


NAp 


North Africa: 










Morocco and Western Sahara.... 


38,143 


30 


20,920 


32 


Tunisia and Algeria 


741 


26 


375 


31 


Total 


NAp 


NAp 


21,295 


NAp 


Middle East: 










Egypt 


1,757 


26 


1,026 


28 


Israel 


179 


26 


91- 


33 


Jordan 


1,194 


27 


525 


33 


Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and 




Turkey 


1,167 


23 


492 


32 


Total 


NAp 


NAp 


2,134 


NAp 












Australia (including Christmas 












1,516 


18 


551 


34 


Nauru 


26 


38 


16 


39 


Total 


NAp 


NAp 


567 


NAp 


South America: 










Brazil: 










Igneous 


2,130 
531 


9 
13 


270 
136 


36 


Sedimentary 


35 


Colombia, Peru, and 




Venezuela 


2,612 


7 


248 


30 


Total 


NAp 


NAp 


654 


NAp 


West Africa: Senegal and Togo... 


640 


29 


183 


34 


Southern Africa: 










Angola and Zimbabwe 


50 


14 


11 


35 


Republic of South Africa 


21,496 


6 


2,638 


37 


Total 


NAp 


NAp 


2,832 


NAp 


Other market economy countries: 












(') 


(') 


158 


36 


Total market economy 












NAp 


NAp 


34,178 


NAp 


Centrally planned economy 




















China 


337 


26 


208 


28 


U.S.S.R. 




Igneous 


2,699 
2,354 


14 
14 


654 
679 


39 




28 


Total centrally planned 










economy countries 


NAp 


NAp 


1,541 


NAp 




Total world 


NAp 


NAp 


35,719 


NAp 



NAp Not applicable. 
In situ tonnage and grades not 
geologic types. 



averaged because of combining deposits of different 



12 



Centrally planned economy 
countries 
4.37c 

Other market economy 

countries 

3.9% 

Other African 

countries 

7.9% 



Middle East 
6.0% 





Total = 35.7 billion metric tons 
FIGURE 6t - Demonstrated phosphate rock resources, by region and geologic type. 



tons (2^) , Morocco alone has sufficient 
resources to provide for world demand far 
into the future. 

On the basis of geologic type, sedimen- 
tary deposits contain nearly 90% of the 
total demonstrated resource of 35,7 bil- 
lion tons. Significant igneous deposits, 
which account for the remaining demon- 
strated resources, are located in Canada, 
Brazil, South Africa, Finland, and the 
Soviet Union, 

U,S. demand is expected to grow at an 
average annual rate of 2% in the future 
(2^), Given the necessary productive ca- 
pacity, the United States can meet its 
needs into the next century. 

The United States has inferred re- 
sources estimated on the order of 7 bil- 
lion tons, while the total for all mar- 
ket economy countries is over 20 billion 
tons. In addition to the demonstrated 
and inferred resources evaluated as part 
of this study, the Bureau of Mines and 
U,S, Geological Survey have reported that 
there is a total of about 95 billion tons 
of phosphate rock resources in the world 



(10) , These include inferred, hypothe- 
tical, and speculative resources. 

NORTH AMERICA 

United States 

The United States is the world's 
largest producer of phosphate rock, ac- 
counting for nearly 54 million tons in 
1981. The geology and resources of U.S. 
phosphate have been treated in a recent 
Bureau publication (6) and are not ad- 
dressed in detail here. However, a brief 
summary is warranted to provide a compar- 
ison of geology and resources of U,S, 
phosphate with those of the rest of the 
world. 

U.S. phosphate resources are concen- 
trated in two geographical areas: the 
Southeast (especially Florida and North 
Carolina) and the West (Idaho, Montana, 
Utah, and Wyoming) (fig, 7), Phosphates 
in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina 
are in the Hawthorn Formation of middle 
Miocene age, and in the Bone Valley For- 
mation and younger formations that con- 
sist of reworked Hawthorn sediments. The 



13 



important commercial deposits consist of 
pebble- and sand-size grains of carbonate 
fluorapatite and quartz in a clay- and 
silt-size matrix. 

Deposits in North Carolina are in the 
middle Miocene Pungo River Formation and 
consist of carbonate fluorapatite pel- 
lets, quartz sand, and minor clay and 
carbonate. 

The central land-pebble district in 
central Florida has been the largest pro- 
ducer of phosphate in the world for many 
years. The deposits there have an ore 
zone ranging in thickness from 3 to 8 m, 
with overburden of 3 to 10 m. Total dem- 
onstrated in situ resources for the 
Southeastern United States are 23 billion 
tons at an average grade of 7% P2O5 , re- 
sulting in approximately 4 billion tons 
of recoverable product. There are esti- 
mated to be an additional 6 billion tons 
of product at the inferred level {6), 

The phosphate deposits of the Western 
United States occur in the Permian Phos- 
phoria Formation, with phosphate rock 
composed primarily of carbonate fluorapa- 
tite pellets, oolites, pisolites, nod- 
ules, and bioclasts. Ore is mined prin- 
cipally from the upper and lower zones of 
the Mead Peak Member. The two zones 
range in thickness from 9 to 18 m and are 
separated by the sandstone, shale, and 
carbonate of the middle zone, which typi- 
cally is 30 m thick. Overburden is com- 
monly 5 to 10 m thick. Only the altered 
rock portion of the total resources was 
evaluated as part of this study because 
unaltered phosphate-bearing rock contains 
high amounts of impurities (magnesium and 
iron) and is presently uneconomic. Total 
demonstrated in situ resources for the 
deposits evaluated are 4.9 billion tons 
averaging 21.3% P2O5 , resulting in 2.5 
billion tons of product. There is an ad- 
ditional 1 billion tons of recoverable 
product at the inferred level, most of 
which is unaltered (6). 

Canada 

Phosphate in Canada occurs mainly as 
accessory apatite in carbonatlte in 



northern Ontario and western Quebec, The 
Ontario Carbonatite Province contains 
some 50 known carbonatite complexes over 
an area of 1.3 million km^. All carbona- 
tite complexes that have been examined 
for their mineral potential contain apa- 
tite grading from 5% to 25% P2O5. Some 
have been enriched in apatite by removal 
of carbonate by leaching. Only the Car- 
gill deposit (fig. 7) was evaluated for 
this study because it is the only deposit 
that has been studied in sufficient de- 
tail to allow for a complete analysis and 
is the most promising in terms of its 
potential as a future phosphate producer. 

The Cargill deposit, located 640 km 
northwest of Toronto, was discovered in 
19 75. It is a high-grade residual phos- 
phate on a karst topography. The deposit 
is covered by a layer of glacial lake 
clay averaging 7m in thickness, and 
sand, clay, gravel, and silt from to 
130 m thick. The residual phosphate 
deposit reaches up to 170 m thick in 
troughs and sinks but is missing or very 
thin on topographic highs. In situ re- 
sources, assumed to be demonstrated for 
this study, are about 120 million tons. 



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LEGEND 
A Discrete individual deposits 

(.,_,/ Several deposits within a district 

FIGURE 7. - Location mop, North American depos- 
its, ], Cargill; .-, San Hilario (inferred only); 3, San 
Juan de la Costa; //, Santo Domingo; f), Florida; 6, 
North Carolina; 7, Tennessee; 8, Western United States 
(Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming), 



14 



Grade has been reported to average 19.6% 

P2O5 m). 

Mexico 

Mexico has several phosphate deposits. 
Those that were evaluated are located on 
the Baja California peninsula. The most 
significant deposits, San Juan de la 
Costa (producer) and Santo Domingo (under 
development) , were evaluated at the dem- 
onstrated level. Together they contain 
121 million tons of recoverable phosphate 
rock. San Hilario, a nonproducer, has 
only inferred resources at this time. 
Locations of the three deposits are shown 
in figure 7. The La Negra property, lo- 
cated in Hidalgo State at Zimapau, al- 
though accounting for a portion of Mexi- 
co's annual production, was not included 
in this study because of its insignifi- 
cance on a world scale, 

San Juan de la Costa is 100 km north of 
La Paz on the eastern coast of Baja Cali- 
fornia Sur. It was discovered in 1976, 
and production began in January 1981, 
The phosphorite is in the lower Miocene 
Monterrey Formation, which consists of 
alternating beds of sandstone, clayey 
sandstone, sandy shale, shale, and silt- 
stone. The formation's two members at- 
tain a combined maximum thickness of 110 
m. The lower member is 70 m thick and 
contains some phosphatic oolite beds that 
grade 1% to 9% P205* The upper member 
contains the economic phosphate beds. 
The phosphatic zone consists of five hor- 
izontal beds which range in thickness 
from 0,8 to 1,5 m; the thickest and most 
economical bed is referred to as the Hum- 
boldt Superior, with a thickness of 1,5 m 
and an average P2O5 content of 19%, The 
deposit is reported to contain 50 million 
tons of in situ reserves averaging 18% to 
20% P2O5 (JJ^), 

The Santo Domingo deposit, 110 km 
north-northwest of La Paz along the Pa- 
cific coast of Baja California Sur, con- 
sists of phosphate pellets in recent 
beach sands. The pellets were derived 
from Miocene sediments. In situ reserves 
are estimated to be more than 1 billion 
tons averaging about 5% P2O5 (13) , 



Only about 4% of the total l,500-km2 
phosphate-bearing area had been explored 
in detail by 1979, and there are presumed 
to be substantially more resources in the 
deposit. 

San Hilario is situated in the center 
of the Baja California peninsula, 80 km 
west-northwest of La Paz. The phosphatic 
zones occur within the Monterrey Forma- 
tion and consist of two well-defined 
beds, each of which is about 0.5 to 1.2 m 
thick. Inferred in situ resources at San 
Hilario total 760 million tons averaging 
14% P2O5 (14). The deposit was discov- 
ered in 1974, but its unfavorable loca- 
tion and problems in benef iciation and 
mining have resulted in a decision to 
forego development, 

NORTH AFRICA 

Morocco 

Morocco is the world's largest exporter 
and third largest producer of phosphate 
rock, with a 1981 production of 19.7 mil- 
lion tons. It has enormous resources, 
with over 20 million tons of recoverable 
phosphate rock at the demonstrated re- 
source level, or 56% of the total con- 
tained in deposits evaluated for this 
study. Inferred resources in Morocco to- 
tal about 5 billion tons of recoverable 
product, part of which cannot be benef i- 
ciated at the present time. Moroccan 
deposits are located in three regions: 
the Oulad Abdoun Plateau, the Ganntour 
Plateau, and the Meskala district (figs. 
8-9) . Production of phosphate began in 
1921 near the town of Khouribga on the 
Oulad Abdoun Plateau, where the country's 
richest and most extensive deposits oc- 
cur. Production from the Ganntour Pla- 
teau began in 1932 at Youssoufia, while 
the Meskala phosphates, although discov- 
ered in 1908, have yet to be exploited. 
Morocco plans to begin production there 
by the late 1980' s. 

All three phosphate-bearing regions 
lie within a northeast-southwest-trending 
belt of Upper Cretaceous and Eocene sedi- 
ments, about 350 km long. The main phos- 
phatic suite on the Oulad Abdoun Plateau 



15 



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LEGEND 
A Discrete individual deposits 

!, / Several deposits within a district 

FIGURE 8. - Location map, north African depositst 
1, Djebel Onk; J, Ganntour Plateau; J, Meskala Dis- 
trict; -l, Oulad Abdoun Plateau; 5, South Basin (Kef 
Eschfair, M'Dilla, Metlaui, M'Rata, Moulares, Red- 
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LEGEND 
Discrete individual deposits 

Several deposits wittiin a district 



FIGURE 9, - Location map, Moroccan deposits. 1, 
Ben Guerir (BenGuerir, El Outa, Nzala, Tessaout); 2, 
Youssoufia Black Rock; 3, Youssoufia Open Cast; 4? 
Youssoufia White Rock; 5, Meskala District (Chicha- 
ouc and Imi N'Tonoute); fj, Dooui Nord; 7, Daoui-Re- 
cette 4; 8, Khouribga Underground; 9, Meraa El Arech; 
]0, Sidi Hajjaj; 11, Southern Khouribga Region, 



consists of sandy oolitic beds alternat- 
ing with marl, clay, phosphatic lime- 
stone, and some chert. The ore zone 
ranges in thickness from 50 m in the 
south at Al Borouj , where 10 distinct 
beds are present, to about 25 m at Khour- 
ibga in the north. Total demonstrated in 
situ resources on the Oulad Abdoun Pla- 
teau are about 7 billion tons at an aver- 
age grade of 30% P2O5. 

The Ganntour Plateau is southwest of 
the Oulad Abdoun Plateau (fig. 9). Al- 
though the phosphatic section thins from 
west to east, there is an increase in the 
number of beds of high enough grade and 
thickness to warrant exploitation; thus, 
the average ore zone thickness at Yous- 
soufia (west end) , where mining is 
confined to one bed, is less than 3 m, 
whereas at Ben Guerir, several kilometers 
east of Youssoufia, the ore zone reaches 
a maximum of 50 m (average, 12 m) , and 
there are 23 beds in the section. Over- 
burden thickness ranges from an average 
of 6 m at Ben Guerir to an average of 50 
m at Youssoufia, where underground mining 
has proceeded to the south into an area 
of increased overburden thickness. Total 
demonstrated in situ resources in the 
Ganntour Plateau region are about 11 bil- 
lion tons averaging about 30% P2O5. 

Phosphate resources in the Meskala dis- 
trict occur on the northern slope of the 
High Atlas range, near Imi N'Tanoute, 
and farther north near Chichaoua. The 
main phosphate beds contain a total of 18 
billion tons of demonstrated in situ re- 
sources averaging nearly 32% P2O5. Near 
Imi N'Tanoute, the beds have been folded 
and faulted. This situation will render 
mining a difficult undertaking relative 
to the other Moroccan deposits, which are 
essentially flat-lying. 

Morocco is pursuing a policy of expand- 
ing phosphate production and constructing 
facilities to convert phosphate rock to 
phosphoric acid. A new port and acid 
plant complex, Jorf Lasfar located at El 
Jadida, is expected to accommodate pro- 
duction increases from areas currently 



16 



exploited, while a new port will probably 
be built at Essaouira to handle future 
production from the Meskala district. In 
addition, Morocco plans to begin extrac- 
tion of uranium from acid produced at 
Safi, where the first such plant is to 
be built. 

Western Sahara 

The Bou Craa deposit is in the El Aaiun 
Basin, 100 km inland from the port of 
Aaiun (fig. 8). It was discovered in 
1947, production began in 1972 but was 
severely curtailed in 1976 following sab- 
otage of the 100-km-long conveyor system 
used to transport rock from the deposit 
to Aaiun. The operation was completely 
inactive in 1980 and 1981, but was re- 
started late 1982. 

The Bou Craa deposit is in Upper Creta- 
ceous and Paleocene sediments in the 
northern end of the Aaiun Basin. At Bou 
Craa Wadi, where the richest phosphates 
occur, the grade averages 32% P2O5 > and 
the ore zone is 5 to 6 m thick. Total in 
situ resources, assumed to be demon- 
strated for this study, are 1.6 billion 
tons (15) . Overburden consists mainly of 
quartz sand and silt, with some calcare- 
ous conglomerate and limestone. Thick- 
ness varies from to 40 m, averaging 
18 m. 

Algeria 

The most important phosphate resources 
in Algeria are at Djebel Onk, 320 km 
south of the port of Annaba (fig. 8). 
Phosphate has been mined in Algeria since 
its discovery in the late 1800' s, but 
mining at Djebel Onk, which accounts for 
over 90% of the country's production, be- 
gan in 1967. The other Algerian mine, 
Djebel Koif , has a long history of pro- 
duction, but is nearly exhausted. Only 
Djebel Onk was evaluated as part of this 
8 tudy . 

Phosphate beds at Djebel Onk, upper Pa- 
leocene in age, are exposed in two anti- 
clinal structures, where the ore zone 
averages about 30 m thick. Overburden 
thickness ranges from to 120 m, averag- 
ing 25 m. In situ reserves have been 



conservatively estimated to be about 500 
million tons (15) at an average grade of 
nearly 25% P2O5 . 

Algeria plans to nearly double produc- 
tion at Djebel Onk by 1986 to provide 
phosphate rock for expanded acid plant 
facilities at Annaba and Tebessa; how- 
ever, expansion plans were temporarily 
shelved in 1982. Water used to process 
the ore must be piped 90 km to Djebel 
Onk, and availability of water could lim- 
it further production. 

Tunisia 

Phosphate was first produced in Tuni- 
sia in the late 1800' s. There are eight 
active mines , seven of which are in 
the Gafsa area: Kef Eschfair, M'Dilla, 
Metlaui, M'Rata, Moulares , Redeyef , and 
Sehib (fig. 8). The eighth mine, Kalaa 
Khasba, is in the Tebessa-Thala area. 
Total demonstrated recoverable phosphate 
rock resource for the eight deposits 
studied is 126 million tons. 

The seven Gafsa mines are in the South 
Basin, an area of 129 km by 40 km with an 
east-west axis. Phosphates are contained 
in upper Paleocene to lower Eocene lime- 
stone and marl within an east-west- 
trending series of anticlines and syn- 
clines with average dips of 20°. There 
are nine phosphate-bearing beds , not all 
of which are present everywhere in the 
basin. Individual beds range from 1 to 
10 m in thickness; ore zone thickness 
ranges from 2 m at Redeyef and Sehib to 
10 m at Kef Eschfair. All but Kef Esch- 
fair are underground operations, with 
overburden thicknesses averaging from 100 
to 200 m. Overburden thickness averages 
25 m at Kef Eschfair. 

In addition to the operations listed 
above, Tunisia plans to begin operations 
at four other areas (with a total of 393 
million tons of inferred in situ re- 
sources) by 1990. The four areas are 
Djellabia, Kef Eddour, Oum el Kecheb, and 
Sra Ouertane ( 16 ) . All but Sra Ouertane 
are located in the Gafsa area. They were 
not evaluated because of insufficient 
data at the time of this study. 



17 



MIDDLE EAST 

Twenty-two deposits in seven Middle 
Eastern countries were considered for 
this study. Those that contain only in- 
ferred resources were only quantified, 
not evaluated with respect to cost. 
Countries containing deposits and number 
of deposits evaluated follow: Egypt (7), 
Iraq (1), Israel (4), Jordan (4), Saudi 
Arabia (2), Syria (3), and Turkey (1). 
All deposits studied lie within a belt of 
Upper Cretaceous sediments that stretches 
from Turkey to Morocco (fig. 10). Total 
recoverable phosphate rock resources in 
Middle East deposits evaluated are 2,135 
million tons at the demonstrated level. 

Egypt 

Phosphate in Egypt is contained in 
three areas: the Nile Valley, the Red 
Sea area, and the Western Desert. Eval- 
uated deposits that contain resources at 
the demonstrated level include Abu Tar- 
tur, Hamrawein, Quseir, Safaga, and 
Sabaiya East and West. Also included in 
the study is the Qena deposit, with re- 
sources only at the inferred level. All 
but Abu Tartur and Qena are producing. 
Sabaiya West is a surface operation. All 
other producing deposits are underground 
operations owing to the thickness of 
overburden, which averages in excess of 
100 m. The bulk of Egyptian production 
comes from Safaga and Quseir, near the 
Red Sea. Phosphate has been known in the 
Western Desert of Egypt since the late 
1800' s, but because of the remote loca- 
tion, Abu Tartur, a potential producer, 
may be the first mine in that area. Min- 
ing in the Nile Valley, where the Sabaiya 
properties are located, began in 1908. 
Ore zone thicknesses range from an aver- 
age of less than 2 m at Hamrawein and 
Quseir to over 14 m at Safaga. The aver- 
age thickness at Abu Tartur is 9 m; at 
Sabaiya it is 8 m. Total demonstrated in 
situ resources in the deposits studied 
are 1,757 million tons at an average 
grade of 26% P2O5. Including Qena, Egypt 
contains an additional 221 million tons 
of recoverable product at the inferred 



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LEGEND 
A Discrete individual deposits 

FIGURE 10, » Location map, Middle Eastern depos- 
its, i, Abu Tartur; 2, Hamrawein; 5, Quseir; yj, Sabaiya 
West and East; 5, Safaga; Q, Qena (inferred only); 7, 
Akashat; 8, Arad; 9, Ein Yahav ^inferred only); 10, 
Nahal Zin; 11, Oron; 12, EI Hasa-EI Abiad; 13, Esh 
Shidiya; lip, Ruseifa; 15, Turayf (inferred only); IQ, 
West Thaniyat; 11, Kneifess; 18, Sharkya; 19, Tarag 
El Hbari (inferred only); 20, Mardin-Mazidag. 

level. A special problem regarding most 

Egyptian deposits is the high level of 

contaminants such as iron, aluminum, mag- 
nesium, and chlorine. 

Iraq 

Akashat is the first mine to exploit 
the vast deposits of the Western Desert 
of Iraq, where phosphates were discovered 
in 1955. It was the only Iraqi deposit 
evaluated for this study. It is north of 
Rutba, where phosphates occur in Upper 
Cretaceous and lower Eocene sediments of 
the Tayarat and Um-er-Radkuma Formations. 
Ore zone thickness averages 10.5 m, with 
5.5 m of overburden. There are reported 
to be 450 million tons of proven in situ 
reserves averaging 21% P2O5 (17) . 



18 



Israel 

Four Israeli deposits were evaluated, 
three of which (Arad, Nahal Zin, and 
Oron) are producing. The fourth, Ein 
Yahav, is a nonproducer with resources 
known only at the inferred level. The 
nearly depleted Makhtesh deposit, which 
provides phosphate rock for superphos- 
phate production, was also not evaluated 
for this study. Total demonstrated in 
situ resources for the producing deposits 
are 179 million tons averaging 26% P2O5. 
Including resources at Ein Yahav, there 
is an additional 126 million tons of re- 
coverable product at the inferred level. 
All deposits are Upper Cretaceous in age 
and are exposed in a series of anticlines 
and synclines that traverse the Negev 
Desert. Deposits of commercial size are 
preserved within the synclinal basins. 
All production is by surface methods, as 
overburden thicknesses do not exceed 
30 m. Ore zone thickness ranges from an 
average of 5.7 m at Oron to about 10 m at 
Arad. The high carbonate and organic 
content of the Oron deposit dictates that 
the ore must be calcined if used to pro- 
duce wet-process phosphoric acid. 

Jordan 

The important phosphate deposits of 
Jordan occur in the marine Belqa Series 
that ranges from Upper Cretaceous to 
Eocene in age. There are three producing 
deposits (El Abiad, El Hasa, and Ruseifa) 
and one developing deposit (Esh Shidiya) 
in the country. Demonstrated in situ re- 
sources for deposits evaluated in this 
study total nearly 1.2 billion tons aver- 
aging 27% P2O5 (533 million tons of re- 
coverable product) . Maximum overburden 
depth does not exceed 40 m; thus all de- 
posits are mined using strip level meth- 
ods. Ore zone thicknesses range from an 
average of 5 m at El Hasa and El Abiad to 
8 m at Esh Shidaya. All Jordanian depos- 
its contain substantial amounts of chlo- 
rine, which can be removed by washing the 
ore. 

Saudi Arabia 

Only one deposit in Saudi Arabia was 
evaluated at the demonstrated level. 



West Thaniyat contains in situ resources 
totaling 225 million tons of 22% P2O5. 
The West Thaniyat phosphate and that at 
Turayf (inferred only) are contained in 
the phosphatic sediments of the Hibr 
(Paleocene-Eocene) and Aruma (Cretaceous) 
Formations. 

Syria 

Syria has two producing deposits, 
Kneifess and Sharkya, which contain dem- 
onstrated in situ resources totaling 412 
million tons at 25% P2O5. Production of 
Syrian phosphate begain in 1971 with de- 
velopment of the Kneifess deposits. Ge- 
ology of the deposits is similar to that 
of those in neighboring Jordan and Iraq, 
with economic phosphates contained in 
Upper Cretaceous and Eocene sediments. 
In addition to Kneifess and Sharkya, the 
Tarag El Hbari deposit was evaluated, al- 
though only at the inferred level. The 
deposit is located in the area of the 
Rutbeh Uplift, 250 km northwest of Damas- 
cus. It contains over 150 million tons 
of inferred recoverable phosphate rock 
resources (15) . 

Turkey 

The only Turkish deposit included in 
this analysis is Mardin-Mazidag, where 
there are three main phosphate beds to- 
taling 1.8 m in thickness. Overburden 
thickness averages 15 m. Production is 
from oolitic limestones of the Kasrik 
Formation of Upper Cretaceous age. Esti- 
mated in situ resources in the Mardin- 
Mazidag area were reported to total 258 
million tons at 10% P2O5 (15); about 80 
million tons, averaging 18% P2O5, was 
considered to be demonstrated for pur- 
poses of this study. 

OCEANIA 

Australia and Christmas Island 

Australia has two major sources of 
phosphate resources, Christmas Island and 
the Georgina Basin in Queensland and 
Northern Territory (figs. 11-12). Total 
demonstrated recoverable resources of 
phosphate rock are 551 million tons, less 



19 



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LEGEND 
▲ Discrete individual deposits 

(27-' Several deposits within a district 

FIGURE 11, - Location map, Nauru and Christmas 
Island deposits, 

than 2% of the total contained in depos- 
its evaluated for this study. 

Christmas Island is an isolated vol- 
canic seamount in the Indian Ocean with 
a total area of 21.5 km^. Phosphate has 
been produced here from 1890 to the pres- 
ent. Host rock for the phosphate deposit 
is a coral limestone that foinns a pat- 
tern of pinnacles. Phosphatic layers 
average 6 m in thickness and consist of 
three types of phosphate, designated A, 

B, and C. The A grade is calcium phos- 
phate (apatite) averaging 35% P2O5 arid 
occurs between and overlying the lime- 
stone pinnacles at the base of the phos- 
sphate section. Types B and C overlie 
type A. C-grade rock is an aluminum-rich 
phosphate subsoil, while type B is tran- 
sitional, effectively a mixture of A and 

C. A and B are normally regarded as com- 
mercial grades; C is not, although lim- 
ited amounts are occasionally produced 
for local markets. 

Phosphate deposits in the Georgina Ba- 
sin in northwest Queensland and Northern 




MAP LOCATION 



LEGEND 
A Discrete individual deposits 

FIGURE 12, - Location map, Australian (Georgina 
Basin) deposits, 1, D Tree; 2, Duchess; '•i, Lady 
Annie-Lady Jane; ^ Northern deposits; 5, Sherrin 
Creek-Lily Creek (inferred only); 6, Wonarah (inferred 
only). 

Territory are associated with silt, 
chert, and silicified coquina of the 
Beetle Creek Formation of Middle Cambrian 
age, or its lateral equivalents, the Bor- 
der Water Hole Formation in Queensland 
and the Wonarah and Burton Beds in North- 
ern Territory. The phosphate is either 
pelletal or extremely fine grained and is 
often referred to as collophane mud. 
Fifteen distinct deposits have been iden- 
tified since the Initial discovery near 
Duchess in 1966. 

The Duchess deposit is 140 km south of 
Mount Isa and consists of a series of 
phosphate beds of varying grades with a 
total average thickness of 11 m. Over- 
burden ranges from to 150 m. Total in 
situ resources have been estimiated at 1.4 
billion tons grading 17.4% P2O5 (J^) , of 
which about 500 million tons averaging 



20 



19% P2O5 were assumed to be demonstrated 
for this evaluation. 

Other deposits In the Georglna Basin 
are Lady Annie-Lady Jane, D Tree, and a 
nearly contiguous group of deposits (Bab- 
bling Brook Hills, Highland, Mount Jenni- 
fer, Mount O'Connor, Phantom Hills, and 
Rlverslelgh) referred to as the Northern 
Deposits. Total demonstrated In situ re- 
sources for these deposits Is about 950 
million tons, of which the largest Is 
Lady Annie-Lady Jane. It contains 486 
million tons of In situ resources averag- 
ing 17% P2O5 (_18). 

Additional Australian deposits that 
contain Inferred resources Include Wona- 
rah In Northern Territory and Sherrin 
Creek-Lily Creek In Queensland. Togeth- 
er, these deposits contain a total of 422 
million tons of recoverable phosphate 
rock at the Inferred level, 

A small quantity of phosphate rock Is 
also produced each year from deposits In 
southern Australia. Due to their minor 
significance, these deposits were not In- 
cluded In this study. 

Nauru 

Nauru Is a small Island In the western 
Pacific, about 2,700 km northwest of the 
eastern coast of Australia (fig. 11). It 
covers an area of 5 km by 4.8 km, with a 
central plateau 61 m above sea level. 
The central limestone plateau has been 
Intensely weathered, forming a distinc- 
tive karstllke topography. The phosphate 
occurs In troughs or sinkholes up to 12 m 
deep. Of the estimated 14,6 km^ of mln- 
able phosphate-bearing land, one-third 
has been mined out, leaving a total of 
25 to 30 million demonstrated In situ 
tons averaging 38.4% P2O5 (19). 

SOUTH AMERICA 

Brazil 

Phosphate occurs in Brazil as igneous 
apatite, sedimentary phosphorite, alumi- 
num phosphate, and leached guano, with 
most production from the apatite-rich 



carbonatlte complexes near Sao Paulo in 
Minas Gerais district. Igneous apatite 
deposits are both primary, consisting of 
apatite in intrusive carbonatlte plugs, 
and secondary, the weathered surflcial 
parts of, the carbonatlte plugs enriched 
in apatite owing to selective leaching 
of carbonates. The carbonatlte deposits 
typically contain other Important ore 
minerals, including columblum, vermlcu- 
llte, titanium minerals, and rare earths. 

Jacuplranga is a Lower Cretaceous car- 
bonatlte complex located 215 km south of 
Sao Paulo. The deposit is of the same 
age and similar nature as other Brazilian 
Igneous basic-alkaline intrusive ore 
bodies (e.g. , Araxa, Tapira) and has a 
well-defined carbonatlte plug. The apa- 
tite appears to be confined to the car- 
bonatlte, and mining is restricted to 
that rock type. The complex occurs as a 
dome-shaped hill over an area of 7 km by 
10 km. It has been mined since 1943 with 
present production from unweathered rock, 
which constitutes a reported (presumedly 
demonstrated) in situ reserve of 100 mil- 
lion tons of carbonatlte rock averaging 
5% P2O5 (J_5). 

Phosphate deposits in weathered carbon- 
atlte complexes evaluated as part of this 
study include Anitapolls, Araxa, Cata- 
lao, Ipanema, and Tapira (fig, 13). The 
largest of these in terms of phosphate 
resources is Tapira, a weathered volcanic 
chimney with a surface area of 30 km^, 
containing demonstrated in situ resources 
totaling in excess of 800 million tons 
averaging 8,7% P2O5 (15), Besides phos- 
phate, Tapira contains commercial quanti- 
ties of titanium, rare earths, vermicu- 
lite, and columblum. Total demonstrated 
in situ resources of the deposits listed 
above are more than 2 billion tons; aver- 
age grade of the deposits is about 9% 
P2O5, 

Deposits of sedimentary origin studied 
include Itataia, Olinda-Paulista, and 
Patos de Minas (fig. 13). Itataia is a 
Precambrian complex of marbles and gneis- 
ses exposed in the Rio Curu-Independen- 
cla Fold Belt and contains substantial 
amounts of uranium along with phosphate. 



21 



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LEGEND 
▲ Discrete individual deposits 

FIGURE 13t - Location map. South American depos- 
its, i, Anitapolis; ~, Araxa; 3, Catalao; .J, Ipanema; 
5, Itataia; 6, Jacupiranga; 7, 01 inda-Pauti sta; 8, Po- 
tosdeMinas; 9, Tapira; 10, Pescc-Conejerc-Sardina- 
ta; 11, Bayovar; 12, Riecito, 

Phosphate deposits at Olinda are in the 
upper Cretaceous Grammame Group associ- 
ated with marl, limestone, and clay. 
Although phosphate occurs throughout the 
Grammame in the Olinda area, the only 
beds of commercial importance are in the 
lower part of the sequence. Beds range 
between 0.2 and 4 m thick, and overall 
P2O5 content averages 20%. In situ re- 
serves at Olinda have been estimated to 
be between 30 and 50 million tons (15). 



1981 for the Itataia, Olinda, and Patos 
deposits were 136 million tons of recov- 
erable product. 

Demonstrated resources for all Brazil- 
ian deposits analyzed total 406 million 
tons of recoverable product. There are 
an additional 7 million tons of recover- 
able product at the inferred level. 

Colomb ia, Peru, and Venezuela 

Other than the Brazilian phosphates , 
the only South American deposits evalu- 
ated for this study are at Pesca in Co- 
lombia, Bayovar in Peru, and Riecito in 
Venezuela (fig. 13). 

Although there are several reported 
phosphate occurrences in Colombia, those 
in the Pesca area are considered the 
most economically viable and were thus 
selected for detailed analysis in this 
study. The Pesca deposits (including 
Conejera and Sardinata) are located 95 km 
northeast of Tunja in Boyaca Department. 
Occurrences of phosphate in Boyaca have 
been known since 1958, but plans for 
large-scale development were not formu- 
lated until 1974. The deposits are in 
the bottom part of the Upper Cretaceous 
Plaeners Formation. The main phosphate 
bed averages 2.5 m in thickness and is 
composed of apatite pellets and minor 
clay cemented by chertlike silica. The 
Plaeners, which crops out along the 
northern flank of a mountain and dips 15° 
to 20° to the south, will have to be 
mined by underground methods because of 
200 m of overburden. 



The phosphate deposits o 
Minas occur as lenses and 
late Precambrian-Lower Camb 
Group, which is a folded 
metasedimentary sequence cove 
the western half of Minas Ge 
tending into Goias and Bahia. 
bearing lenses occur up to 
over an area of 0.4 km by 3 
the Bambui has yet to be ext 
plored, so it is likely that 
deposits will be discove 
demonstrated resources as 



f Patos de 
pods in the 
rian Bambui 
and faulted 
ring most of 
rais and ex- 
Phosphate- 

80 m thick 
km. Much of 
ensively ex- 

addiitional 
red. Total 

of January 



Ore grade in the Pesca and Conejera 
deposits averages about 20% P205* Demon- 
strated in situ resources total 44 mil- 
lion tons, but there are substantially 
more potentially available in the area, 
possibly totaling 120 million tons (20) . 
Total demonstrated resources in all three 
Pesca-Conejera-Sardinata Deposits are 
about 425 million tons grading 18% ^2^5' 

The Bayovar deposit in the Sechura Des- 
ert of Peru is a marine pelletal phos- 
phorite of Miocene age interbedded with 



22 



diatomite and tuff. The Sechura apatite 
is a carbonate f lurohydroxyapatite low in 
fluorine and high in CO 3 content. The 
deposit has been divided into three main 
ore zones : the Diana in the lower diato- 
mite and phosphate, the Zero, and the 
Minerva in the upper diatomite and phos- 
phate. The Diana is the richest and 
thickest of these, averaging 30 to 40 m 
in thickness, with ore contained in 
seven beds. Average thickness of the 
ore-bearing interval is 165 m, with over- 
burden of 120 m. Reserves of rock have 
been established as being approximately 
560 million tons of 30.5% P2O5 (15). 
However, only about 20% of the area has 
been prospected, and there could be sev- 
eral billion tons of additional resources 
potentially available. The total demon- 
strated resource is about 2 billion tons 
grading about 5% P2'^5* 

Phosphorite in Venezuela is found in 
Upper Cretaceous sediments, primarily in 
Tachira State in the Merida Andes and in 
rocks of lower Miocene age north of Aroa, 
in Falcon State, where exploitation at 
the Riecito Mine began in 1956. The mine 
produces from two phosphate beds in the 
Pozon Formation, composed of hard, mas- 
sive siliceous phosphatic breccia con- 
sisting of angular quartz fragments ce- 
mented by very fine grained apatite. 
The ore zone averages 9 to 14 m in thick- 
ness. The Pozon here has been folded 
into an asymmetrical anticline trans- 
sected by a transverse fault which 
divides the deposit into two portions. 
In the mining area, beds dip at 5° to 
15°. Overburden thickness averages 21 m. 
Proven (measured) in situ reserves of 
high-grade material (27% to 30% P2O5) are 
reported to total 20 million tons (15). 

WEST AFRICA 

Senegal 

There are two phosphate mining oper- 
ations, Pallo and Taiba (including To- 
bene), in Senegal, which account for all 
of that country's annual mineral exports. 
Locations are shown in figure 14. Both 
produce phosphate from Eocene rocks in a 
200-km-long belt of sediments parallel 




SIERR 
LEONE 



LEGEND 
Discrete individual deposits 



FIGURE 14. <• Location map, west African deposits. 
1, Pallo; 2, Taibo; 3, Hohotoe; If,, Kpogome. 



to the coast. The deposits are largely 
aluminum calcium phosphates, which are 
the end product of laterization of the 
original sedimentary pelletal phosphates. 
Ore beds average 17 m and 6 m in thick- 
ness at Pallo and Taiba, respectively. 
Overburden depth is 3 m at Pallo and 25 m 
at Taiba. The two deposits together con- 
tain 537 million tons of in situ demon- 
strated resources averaging 31% P205» 
resulting in 130 million tons of recover- 
able product. 

Togo 

Although Togo (fig. 14) is a small 
country of only 57,000 km^, it is pres- 
ently the world's third largest exporter 
of phosphate after the United States and 
Morocco. Production in 1980 totaled over 
2.9 million tons (21). Phosphate occurs 
as oolitic grains of apatite in Eocene 
sediments that are confined to a narrow 
belt 2 km by 35 km in the southern part 
of the country. Of the five known depos- 
its (Adeta, Kpogame, Hahotoe, Dagbati, 
and Mome), only Hahotoe and Kpogame are 
in production. They were the only de- 
posits evaluated containing resources at 



23 



the demonstrated level, a total of about 
100 million tons in situ (22) at a grade 
of 30% P205« Dagbati has an estimated 29 
million tons of recoverable phosphate 
rock at the inferred level. There are 
generally two phosphate beds, ranging 
between 2 and 6 m in thickness and sepa- 
rated by a layer of phosphatic marl. 
Thickness of the overburden of sand and 
clay averages 15 m. 

SOUTHERN AFRICA 

Three deposits in southern Africa were 
evaluated as part of this study. They 
are Lacunga River in Angola, Palabora in 
the Republic of South Africa, and Dorowa 
in Zimbabwe. Lacunga River is of sedi- 
mentary origin, and the others are igne- 
ous apatites. All are shown in figure 
15. 

The Lacunga River deposits were first 
identified in 1951 and are located near 
the coast and 100 km south of the Congo 
River in the Zaire District. The de- 
posits consist of unconsolidated phos- 
phate pebbles, phosphatic coprolites, 
and quartz sands of lower Eocene age. 
The ore zone averages less than 1 m in 
thickness, overlain by 2 m of overbur- 
den. In situ resources, assumed to be 




INDIAN OCEAN 



VX IMO 



LEGEND 
Discrete individual deposits 



FIGURE 15. - Location map, southern African de- 
posits. /, Locungo River; 2, Palabora; 3, Chishanya 
(inferred only); .J,, Dorowa; 5, Shawo (inferred only). 



demonstrated for this study, have been 
estimated at 27.5 million tons averaging 
19% P2O5 (L5). 

The igneous apatites at Palabora are by 
far the most important phosphate resource 
in all of southern Africa. Palabora is 
located in the northeast Transvaal Low 
Veld and occupies an outcrop area of 20 
km^ . It is essentially a large body of 
pyroxenite ringed by syenite and intruded 
into Precambrian granites. The pyroxen- 
ite encloses a plug of carbonatite which 
has been intruded into the center of the 
complex. The carbonatite is composed of 
crystalline dolomitic calcite along with 
varying amounts of magnetite, apatite, 
and serpentinized olivine. There are 
basically two apatite deposits, a rela- 
tively high-grade band of foskorite sur- 
rounding the carbonatite core, and dis- 
seminated apatite in the pyroxenites. 
Based on a 1,000-m depth, there are esti- 
mated to be 21.6 billion tons of demon- 
strated in situ resources of 6.7% P2O5. 
There are inferred to be an additional 
10.8 billion tons between a depth of 
1,000 and 1,500 m (23). 

Three potential phosphate sources occur 
in the valley of the Sabi River in east- 
ern Zimbabwe. All are carbonatite com- 
plexes located at Dorowa, Shawa, and 
Chishanya. Dorowa is the only one being 
exploited at this time and is the only 
Zimbabwean deposit evaluated for this 
study. It is a circular plug of ser- 
pentinized dunlte, 6 km in diameter, en- 
closed by a zone of syenitic fenite which 
grades outward into the Precambrian gran- 
ite country rock. A ring dike of dolo- 
mitic carbonate has been Intruded into 
the central core of the dunite plug about 
800 m from its center. Apatite is pres- 
ent as an accessory mineral in ijolite, 
carbonatite, and certain fenites. Min- 
able resources have been established at 
18 million tons 2.6% to 4.9% P2O5. 

ASIA 

Two Asian deposits were considered for 
this study: the Jhamarkotra Mine in the 
State of Rajasthan, India, and Hazara 



24 



(Lagardon and Kakul) in the foothills 
of the Himalayas , Pakistan. Only the 
Jhamarkotra Mine was evaluated. 

Jhamarkotra is considered to be the 
only phosphate deposit of major signifi- 
cance in India, although there are sev- 
eral other deposits of both sedimentary 
and igneous (carbonatite) origin in the 
country. The deposits at Jhamarkotra are 
Precambrian metasediments of the Aravilli 
Group, which crop out at or near the tops 
and on the slopes of a series of low 
hills. The phosphatic unit dips at an 
angle of 30° to 60° and is traceable 
over about 20 km. Individual mineralized 
zones are typically lenticular in shape 
and range up to 11 m in thickness, aver- 
aging about 6 m. Average overburden 
thickness is 24 m. 

Proven reserves of rock at Jhamarkotra 
are estimated to be 63 million tons, of 
which 17 million tons are relatively high 
grade, averaging 30% P205* The remainder 
averages about 18% to 20% (24). The de- 
posit has been exploited since 1969, with 
initial production from the high-grade 
portion. 

The Kakul and Lagardon deposits, col- 
lectively referred to as the Hazara de- 
posit, are located in the Hazara District 
of the Northwest Frontier Province of 
Pakistan, where phosphate deposits where 
first discovered in 1970. Phosphates oc- 
cur within the upper cherty dolomitic 
unit of the Lower Cambrian Abbottabad 
Formation. The deposit is a steeply 
dipping (about 70°) tabular body averag- 
ing 2m in thickness. Principal phos- 
phate minerals are dahlite and franco- 
lite. There are proven reserves of about 
14.5 million tons of rock averaging about 
28% P2O5 at Hazara (25). Apparently, 
only pilot-plant-phase mining has oc- 
curred at Kakul, but production was 
scheduled for 1982 (26) . Mining has 
never been reported from Lagardon. 

Two small producing Indian deposits 
(Jhabua and Mussoorie) containing 11 mil- 
lion tons grading 28% P2O5 ^i^d ^ large 



deposit in Vietnam (Lao Cay) with 1 bil- 
lion tons averaging 26% P2O5 were not in- 
cluded in this evaluation primarily owing 
to a lack of information on them. 

EUROPE 

The only European deposits evaluated 
for this study are two carbonatite com- 
plexes in Finland, Siilinjarvi and Sokli. 
Siilinjarvi is located in east-central 
Finland 20 km north of Kuopio, and Sokli 
is in Lapland (fig. 16). The nearest 
village to Sokli is Savukoski, 90 km to 
the southwest. Total demonstrated recov- 
erable rock contained in both deposits is 
115 million tons. 




LEGEND 
A Discrete individual deposits 

FIGURE 16, • Location map, U.S.S.R. and Finland 
deposits, 1, Chilisay; 2, Kara Tau; 3, Kingisepp; 4» 
Kola Combine; 5, Kovdor; 6, Viatka-Kama; 7, Yego- 
rievsk-Lopatino (inferred only); 8, Siilinjarvi; 9, Sokli, 



25 



The Siilinjarvi complex, discovered in 
1954, is a vertical, tabular body 16 km 
long and up to 1.5 km wide. It is Pre- 
cambrian in age, one of the oldest car- 
bonatite complexes known, and intrudes a 
granitic gneiss. The main constituents 
are 65% phlogopite mica, 22% carbonate, 
and 10% f luorapatite. Grades are gener- 
ally uniform laterally and vertically. 
Demonstrated in situ reserves are esti- 
mated to be 465 million tons averaging 
4.15% P2O5 to 100 m depth (15); how- 
ever, the ore zone has been drilled to 
at least 800 m, and the total demon- 
strated resource is nearly 1 billion 
tons. Overburden thickness averages only 
5 m and consists of unconsolidated gla- 
cial material. 

The Sokli deposit, discovered in the 
1960's, is a large circular intrusive 
5 km in diameter, grading 2% to 4% P205* 
The phosphate-bearing zone ranges from 
to 80 m in thickness, averaging 25 m. 
Overburden consists of 1 to 15 m of un- 
consolidated glacial material. The 3.3- 
km^ area being evaluated by Rautaruukkii 
Oy (deposit owner) for initial exploita- 
tion has been enriched by weathering to 
over 15% P205* ^^ situ reserves have 
been reported at about 100 million tons 
averaging about 17% P2O5 (15) . Based on 
information obtained for this evaluation, 
demonstrated in situ resources have been 
estimated to total about 140 million tons 
at 18% P2O5. 

CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMY COUNTRIES 

U.S.S.R. 



The U.S.S.R. is the world's second 
largest producer of phosphate, with 1981 
production estimated at 26 million tons 
of phosphate rock (revised estimate from 
the 30,950,000 tons reported by the Bu- 
reau of Mines in the past). The majority 
of Soviet production comes from the apa- 
tite deposits of the Kola Peninsula, 
and the remainder from several deposits, 
most of sedimentary origin, throughout 
European Russia (fig. 16). Phosphate- 
bearing deposits evaluated include the 



Kola Combine, Kovdor, Kara Tau, Kingi- 
sepp, Kovdor, Oshurkovo (in the eastern 
U.S.S.R.), Viatka-Kama, and Chilisay. 
Total demonstrated recoverable phosphate 
rock in Soviet deposits studied is 1,333 
million tons. This represents only a 
portion of the U.S.S.R. 's resources, 
which are much larger. 

The Kola deposits were discovered in 
1929, and production began shortly there- 
after. They occur in the Khibiny Pluton, 
a middle to upper Paleozoic series of 
nepheline-syenite intrusions about 40 km 
in diameter. The apatite-rich rocks oc- 
cur within a band of ijolitic rocks sur- 
rounding the pluton core. Phosphate- 
bearing layers range from 10 m to over 
200 m in thickness. Ore grade varies, 
with currently produced ore averaging 
about 16.5% '^2^5' Demonstrated in situ 
resources are estimated to be about 1.8 
billion tons. 

Kovdor (also on the Kola Peninsula) is 
an alkalic, ultrabasic igneous complex of 
middle Devonian age , occupying an area of 
38 km^ , located 150 km southwest of Mur- 
mansk. Apatite-rich rocks occur in near- 
ly vertical lenses and veins of variable 
thickness. The deposit has been open- 
pit-mined for magnetite since 1964. Apa- 
tite has been recovered since 1974 from 
the tailings of the magnetite mining. 
Feedstock to the phosphate recovery mill 
averages about 10% P205' I" situ re- 
sources, assumed to be demonstrated for 
this study, were estimated to be 113 mil- 
lion tons at an average grade of 6.6% 
P2O5 (27). 

The Kara Tau complex consists of more 
than 40 separate deposits distributed 
over an area of 120 by 25 km along the 
northern slope of the Karatau mountain 
range, about 120 km north of Chimkent. 
Mining began in 1942 as a small sur- 
face operation. Production is from Lower 
Cambrian sediments, with the primary 
phosphorite bed about 5 m to 12 m thick. 
Average P2O5 content at Dzhanatas, 
largest of the deposits, is 25.6% (15) . 
Total minable phosphorite resources in 



26 



all deposits were estimated to be 1.5 
billion tons, of which more than half is 
contained in the five largest deposits 
(28). These resources were assumed to be 
demonstrated for purposes of this study. 

Kingisepp consists of three mines 
(Maardu, Toolse, and Kingisepp) producing 
from Lower Ordovician arenaceous schists 
bearing phosphatic shells. The deposit 
is located 125 km southwest of Leningrad 
near the Gulf of Finland. The ore aver- 
ages 6% P2^5» ^ith an estimated 230 mil- 
lion in situ tons present (15). 

The Oshurkovo deposit occurs within a 
strongly metamorphosed biotite-hornblende 
diorite complex located east of the 
southern end of Lake Baykal and 15 km 
northwest of Ulan-Ude. Although located 
in a remote region of the country and not 
represented on figure 16, the deposit is 
close to the Trans-Siberian railway. The 
minable deposits consist of steeply dip- 
ping rocks covering an area of 3.5 km^. 
Phosphate-bearing rock is present at the 
surface and extends to a known depth 
of 100 m. There is a total of 870 mil- 
lion tons demonstrated resources in situ, 
averaging 4% to 5% P2O5 (15). Develop- 
ment of this deposit is planned. 

The Chilisay phosphorites are located 
at the southern end of the Urals near the 
city of Aktyubinsk, 500 km northeast of 
the Caspian Sea. Deposits in the region 
have been known and exploited locally 
since 1929, but two major mining units 
should become operational within the next 
few years. Production is from two sedi- 
mentary beds of Upper Cretaceous age 
ranging in thickness between 0.2 m and 
0.85 m. Overburden thickness is minimal, 
averaging about 10 m. Ore grade at Chil- 
isay averages 10% P2O5 on an in situ 
demonstrated resource that has been esti- 
mated to be 269 million tons. Total 
in situ resources in the region are re- 
portedly about 1 billion tons. Apparent- 
ly the concentrate is used for direct ap- 
plication because the magnesium content 
may prohibit its use for acid production 
(15). 



The Viatka-Kama deposits, discovered in 
1917, occur within the largest known sed- 
imentary sequence in European Russia. 
The mine is located about 150 km north- 
east of Kirov. Phosphate occurs as a 
1-m-thick layer of phosphorite nodules 
in glauconitic sand of Lower Cretaceous 
age. Ore grade averages 12% to 14% P2O5, 
and there is an estimated 1 billion tons 
of in situ demonstrated resources (15). 

Other significant Soviet deposits not 
analyzed in detail for this analysis, 
owing to a lack of sufficient data, in- 
clude Seligdar and Yegorievsk-Lopatino. 
Seligdar is located in Yakutia, 50 km 
north of Aldan. It is of igneous origin, 
pipelike in shape, covering an area of 
2.4 km^. The ore body is essentially a 
dolomitic carbonatite, averaging 6% to 
6.5% P2O5 but ranging between 2% and 40%. 
British Sulphur ( 15 ) reported resources 
to be 3 billion tons of apatite. A fea- 
sibility study for development at Selig- 
dar was scheduled for completion in 1979. 

Yegorievsk and Lopatino are two active 
mines located 90 km southwest of Moscow, 
The deposits occur as outcrops of phos- 
phatic, glauconitic sands, and clays of 
Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous age. 
Total resources are not known, but the 
grade at Yegorievsk is reported to range 
between 7% and 14% P2O5 in two phosphatic 
horizons ( 15 ) . 

China 

Information concerning the phosphate 
resources and geology of China is lim- 
ited, but there are known to be mining 
operations in deposits throughout the 
country. Total Chinese production aver- 
ages about 12 million tons of phosphate 
rock and apatite annually. 

All of the Chinese deposits considered 
for this study are either producing or in 
development stages. Deposits studied in- 
clude Jingshan,^ Zhongxiang, Gaiyang, 
Kunming, Jinning, Shandong Province, 

^All names are in Pinyin. 



27 



Jingbing, Jin He, Fanshan, Fuchuan, and 
Emei (fig. 17). Except for Shandong 
Province, which includes about 400 indi- 
vidual mines, all are, or presumably 
would be, discrete operations. Total 
demonstrated resources contained in the 
deposits are 208 million tons of recover- 
able phosphate rock. 

Gaiyang is believed to be the largest 
single phosphate mine in China. It is 
located 45 km north of the town of Gai- 
yang in Guizhou Province. Phosphate is 
mined from steeply inclined beds near the 
base of the Precambrian Doushanto Forma- 
tion, which consists of shales and phos- 
phatic layers in the lower portion, with 
dolomitic marls predominant near the top. 
P2O5 grade of minable units averages 30% 
to 35%. Demonstrated resources of rock 
are estimated to total at least 20 mil- 
lion tons, based on an assumed 14-year 
mine life remaining at current production 
levels . 




^— ~] Hoau 



r i. 

r - 

• Hebei 
ShoniiC / 



'^NORTH 
_KORE« 



Shandong 



Omghoi 



( SrAooi .'Hub*, A^ , > **^ I 



i^ ^y\. 



US 



.jj 




)^' 



,y^ 



Guonqxl 



3 2: 

r 



'THAILAMO 



LEGEND 
A Dltcr«t« individual deposits 

FIGURE 17, • Location map, Chinese deposits. /, 
Emei (inferred only); 2, Fanshan (inferred only); 2, Fu- 
chuan and Gaiyang; 4/ Kunming and Jinning; 5, Jing- 
bing (inferred only); 6, Jingshan; 7, Jin He (inferred 
only); 8, Shandong; -9, Zhongxiong, 



Eighty kilometers east of Gaiyang is 
the Fuchuan deposit, discovered in 1976 
and presently in a developing stage. It 
is probably within the Doushanto Forma- 
tion, Fuchuan resources are apparently 
very extensive, possibly 800 to 900 mil- 
lion in situ tons at 25% to 30% P2O5. 

Other major producing deposits located 
within the Doushanto Formation occur at 
Jingshan and Zhongxiang, in Hubei Prov- 
ince, 110 km northwest and 175 km west- 
northwest, respectively, of Wuhan. Ex- 
ploitation began at both in the 1960's. 
Production is from the lowest of four 
phosphatic horizons occurring within a 
sequence of interbedded dolomites and 
dolomitic marls. The minable bed is 1 to 
2 m thick, and the Doushanto Formation 
here reaches a total thickness of 300 m. 
Assuming a 14-year life remaining and 
present production levels, there are 
assumed to be at least 4,2 million tons 
of demonstrated rock resources at Jing- 
shan and 5.8 million tons at Zhongxiang. 
Grade has been reported at 28% to 35% 
P2O5 (L5), 

Other important Chinese production 
occurs at Jinning in central Yunnan 
Province, 40 km south-southeast of the 
city of Kunming, Exploitation began 
there about 1966 from two massive beds 
within the Lower Cambrian Meisuchen For- 
mation, a member of the Lei-Bo suite 
which contains phosphatic units in other 
areas of China, The beds are exposed on 
the south side of an east-west anticline 
and dip to the south at 15°, Ten kilome- 
ters north of the Jinning Mine, on the 
north limb of the anticline, is the Kun- 
ming deposit. Beds on the north limb dip 
at 3° to 8° . At both Kunming and Jin- 
ning, there are two ore beds, the lower 
of which is 3 to 6 m thick, separated 
from the upper by 10 m of dolomite. The 
upper bed averages between 8 and 10 m in 
thickness and is of slightly higher grade 
than the lower. Average grade of total 
proven ore is 25% P2O5. Fluorapatite is 
the ore mineral, with minor amounts of 
magnesium oxide and greater than 2% flu- 
orine. Measured reserves at each deposit 
are 65 million tons in situ (9), but 



28 



apparently there are several hundred mil- 
lion tons of additional resources in the 
area that have yet to be defined. Li and 
Wang (30) stated that the two deposits 
could account for 70% of China's rock 
production for the foreseeable future. 

Shandong Province in northeastern China 
contains deposits of igneous apatite. 
Little is known about the deposits, 
except that a grade of 28% P2O5 sug- 
gests that enrichment through weathering 
has occurred and the ore lies near 
the surface. The deposits, containing 
an estimated 150 million tons in situ 
demonstrated resources (15) , are ex- 
ploited by as many as 400 individual min- 
ing operations. 

The only other known igneous apatite 
deposit occurs 36 km southwest of Bei- 
jing. It is believed to be of Precam- 
brian age, was discovered in 1977, and is 
referred to as the Fanshan deposit. It 
has been described as the largest deposit 



in northern China (31) , but no resource 
data are given. Development of the de- 
posit would provide a local source of 
phosphate, which would preclude having to 
transport rock from Yunnan and Guizhou, 
over 1,800 km to the southwest. 

The Jingbing, Jin He, and Emei deposits 
in Sichuan Province comprise an extensive 
phosphate resource, but figures are un- 
available. Jingbing is located 340 km 
southwest of Chongqing in the southeast- 
ern part of the Province, while Jin He 
and Emei are 180 km south-southwest and 
275 km west, respectively, of Chonqing, 
in central Sichuan. All are believed to 
occur within the Lower Cambrian Lei-Bo 
suite, which contains the phosphate cur- 
rently mined at Kunyang, several hundred 
kilometers to the south in Yunnan Prov- 
ince. The suite is 30 to 50 m thick at 
Emei, where it is exposed. The phos- 
phatic horizon is 5m thick and occurs 
within interbedded dolomites and cherts. 



MINING AND PROCESSING OF PHOSPHATE 



MINING METHODS 

Nearly 88% of the phosphate rock prod- 
uct produced in market economy countries 
today is recovered by surface mining 
methods. The remaining 12% is recovered 
by underground mining techniques , predom- 
inantly in Morocco and Tunisia. In the 
U.S.S.R. and China, approximately 30% and 
23%, respectively, of the phosphate rock 
product is recovered by underground min- 
ing methods. Appendix B shows specific 
deposit data such as mining and milling 
methods, status, capacities, grades, de- 
posit type, ownership, and initial year 
of production for the deposits and mines 
included in this study. 

Surface 

The two major surface-mining methods 
used in the phosphate industry are strip 
mining and open pit mining, A third 
method, dredging, is used in special sit- 
uations. Strip mining accounts for 90% 
of U.S. and 57% of total world phosphate 
rock production. Market economy country 



production by this method is almost 72%. 
Strip mining is predominantly used be- 
cause of the tabular, bedded, sedimen- 
tary nature of most phosphate deposits. 
Most deposits in the Southeastern United 
States and North Africa use this method. 

Nearly 16% of current market economy 
country phosphate rock production is 
supplied by the open pit mining meth- 
od. Open pit mining is extensively em- 
ployed to exploit the massive igneous 
phosphate carbonatites , which in them- 
selves contribute approximately 5% to 
current market economy country produc- 
tion of phosphate rock. The U.S.S.R. and 
China derive 69% and 32% of their respec- 
tive production from igneous sources. 
Dredging is employed at a few deposits 
throughout the world, particularly at 
the Wingate Creek operation in Florida 
(U.S.), and will be employed at the pro- 
posed Santo Domingo operation in Mexico. 
It is also used to strip off overburden 
at Texasgulf 's Lee Creek Mine in North 
Carolina (U.S.). 



29 



Strip Level 

An estimated 75% of the mines producing 
at the time of this study are using the 
strip level mining method. Approximately 
82% of those not producing would probably 
use this method of mining. 

In this method the overburden is 
stripped from an initial cut and stock- 
piled. The phosphate ore is excavated 
while a second parallel cut is being 
stripped of overburden. The waste from 
the second cut is side-cast into the 
first cut. This cycle is repeated as the 
mining proceeds. 

In the larger operations, overburden 
is stripped by draglines or bucket-wheel 
excavators and cast into the adjacent 
mlned-out strip. In smaller operations, 
or where selective mining is critical, 
scrapers and bulldozers with rippers 
working in tandem are used, with the 
waste material being dumped into the pre- 
vious strip. Some strip mine opera- 
tions utilize dredges to remove a por- 
tion of the overburden. An example of 
this is the Lee Creek operation in North 
Carolina. 

Ore removal is accomplished by a drag- 
line, scraper, or shovel-truck operation. 
In Florida, draglines dump the ore into a 
slurry pit where the phosphate material 
is slurried and pumped through pipes to 
the benef iciation plant. Most phosphate 
ore or overburden requires little or no 
drilling or blasting prior to excavation. 
The strip level method is used extensive- 
ly in the Southeastern United States and 
North Africa; blasting is frequently re- 
quired to mine Moroccan deposits. 

Open Pit 

Open pit mining is employed to recover 
hard igneous carbonatite rock. The meth- 
od differs from strip mining in that the 
waste is stored separately instead of be- 
ing dumped into mlned-out areas. Bench- 
ing of the waste and ore is often neces- 
sary owing to the thickness or depth of 
the ore. 



Overburden removal is accomplished by 
shovel, front-end loader, or dragline in 
conjunction with trucks. In some cases, 
scrapers and bulldozers working in tandem 
are used to excavate and transport the 
waste to the dump. 

The same equipment and methods are used 
to mine the ore as are used for overbur- 
den removal. Drilling and blasting are 
more common in open pit mining than in 
strip mining. This is due to the harder 
nature of the carbonatite deposits that 
this method is suited for. 

Dredging 

This method is used in special hydro- 
logic situations for which the overburden 
and phosphate horizon are unconsolidated 
clay and sand. Salardina Bay in South 
Africa mines phosphate using dredges. 
Texasgulf Chemicals Co., North Carolina, 
uses a dredge to remove overburden. 
Pumps dewater the pit , and draglines mine 
the ore from a bench. 

Underground 

The relatively low unit value of phos- 
phate rock makes underground mining meth- 
ods generally unprofitable. However, 
steeply dipping phosphate beds or high 
stripping ratios sometimes make the use 
of underground mining techniques prefer- 
able. In such cases, highly mechanized 
room-and-pillar , longwall caving, and 
overhand-s toping methods have been used 
successfully. While only 12% of present 
phosphate rock production capacity in 
market economy countries is from under- 
ground methods, this study estimates that 
18% of the capacity of deposits not pro- 
ducing at the time of the study could be 
from underground mines. The majority of 
producing underground phosphate mines are 
located in north Africa. 

Room and Pillar 

A horizontal- to shallow-dipping phos- 
phate bed, with fairly competent strata 
overlying the ore zone is necessary for 
successful room-and-pillar mining. This 



30 



method consists of interconnecting open- 
ings with pillars left for roof support. 
Access is usually from, the outcrop or pit 
wall but may be by incline or vertical 
shaft. Continuous mining machines simi- 
lar to those used in coal and potash min- 
ing are used to excavate the phosphate 
ore. Sometimes drilling and blasting 
are required, with slushers or front-end 
loaders used to load the broken ore. 
Trucks or conveyors transport the ore to 
the surface. 

Approximately 9% of current market 
economy country phosphate rock product 
capacity is supplied by room-and-pillar 
mining operations. Morocco and Tunisia 
contribute over 90% of this room-and- 
pillar capacity. Future projections in- 
dicate nearly 8% of the capacity from 
nonproducing deposits in market econon^^ 
countries could be from room-and-pillar 
operations. 

Overhand Stoping 

Steeply dipping beds or massive ore 
bodies, such as the igneous carbonatites , 
can be mined by overhand-stoping methods. 
Various methods fall under the category 
of overhand stoping, such as cut-and-fill 
and shrinkage stoping. The material is 
first drilled and blasted, then loaded 
with slushers or load-haul-dump machines. 
Transportation to the surface is by ei- 
ther rail, truck, or load-haul-dump. 
Loading in the shrinkage-s toping method 
is usually from ore chutes that draw 
broken ore from the stope into trucks or 
rail cars. Overhand stoping is not being 
used in any of the producing properties 
in market economy countries included in 
the study. The U.S.S.R. and China use 
overhand-stoping methods for all current 
underground mining. This represents 37% 
of the phosphate rock production capacity 
in these countries. Nearly 10% of the 
estimated new capacity in the United 
States from developing and explored de- 
posits could be supplied by this method. 
Wyoming is the principal location for the 
proposed application of overhand stoping 
in this country. 



Longwall Caving 

Longwall caving is a highly productive 
but capital intensive mining method used 
in flat-lying bedded deposits of coal, 
potash, and phosphate. The ore is cut 
from a long face, usually greater than 50 
m in length, by a cutting drum, also 
called a face shear. The broken ore 
drops onto a conveyor belt that runs par- 
allel to the face and is transported to 
the surface. Roof support chocks keep 
the roof from caving in at the face to 
allow working room for the men and equip- 
ment. As the face advances, the roof 
support chocks and conveyor are advanced, 
allowing the roof to cave in behind. 

Only two producing mines, Recette No. 7 
(Youssoufia Black Rock) in Morocco and 
the Sehib Mine in Tunisia, use this meth- 
od. This represents 3% of market economy 
countries' existing capacity, or almost 
20% of existing phosphate rock production 
capacity in north Africa. 

BENEFICIATION METHODS 

In almost all cases the run-of-mine 
phosphate material has to be benefici- 
ated. The basic benef iciation methods 
employed in the phosphate industry are 
sizing, washing, flotation, calcining, 
and calcining with leaching. A phosphate 
benef iciation plant may use one or more 
of these methods to produce a marketable 
product. 

The milling method assigned to proper- 
ties in this study indicates the most 
significant method used to beneficiate 
the phosphate material. An example would 
be a property that screens and washes 
before sending the phosphate material 
through a flotation circuit. The milling 
method for this property would be listed 
as flotation, even though sizing and 
washing were used. 

In the United States, 87% of current 
phosphate rock product capacity is bene- 
ficiated through flotation, followed 
by calcining and washing at 9% and 4%, 



31 



TABLE 4. - Phosphate mill plant operating parameters, by region' 





Pro 


ducing mi 


nes 


Nonpro 


ducing de 


posits 


Region 


Feed 
grade, 
% P2O5 


Product 
grade, 
% P2O5 


Recov- 
ery, 
% 


Feed 
grade, 
% P2O5 


Product 
grade, 
% P2O5 


Recov- 
ery, 

% 


United States: 

Southeast 


8.4 
25.2 
10.3 
29.5 
26.4 
36.1 


31.7 
30.6 
35.2 
31.5 
32.3 
37.2 


89.6 
80.1 
61.7 
62.3 
66.7 
83.7 


5.7 
21.9 
10.8 
29.6 
24.5 
17.3 


30.7 
28.4 
32.3 
33.2 
31.4 
34.1 


85.1 


West 


79.2 


South America 


68.7 


North Africa 


65.8 


Middle East and Asia. ..••• 


67.9 


Oceania, including Australia 


83.4 



Feed grade, product grade, 
in each region. 



and recovery are weighted average for all the deposits 



respectively. An estimated 48% of cur- 
rent world production is beneficiated 
through flotation, followed by washing — 
34%, siz-ing — 14%, and calcining — 6%. 

Average feed grade, average product 
grade, and average mill recovery are 
shown in table 4 for the various market 
economy country regions. Feed grade is 
here defined as the recoverable grade 
of the ore that feeds the mill. As shown 
in this table, the Southeastern United 
States has the lowest average feed grade 
but the highest average recovery (at 8.4% 
P2O5 and 89.6%, respectively). North 
Africa, on the other hand, has an average 
feed grade of 29.5% P2O5 but a mill re- 
covery of only 62.3% owing to losses of 
fine material during washing. 

Sizing 

Sizing is primarily used on direct- 
shipping material that already meets acid 
plant chemical specifications. Oversized 
waste material, such as limestone and 
dolomite, is removed by screening, and 
the phosphate ore is crushed and some- 
times ground to meet acid plant size 
specifications. 

Washing 

The purpose of washing is to remove 
the minus 150-mesh clay-sized slimes 
fraction from the run-of-mine material. 
The clay-sized fraction contains impuri- 
ties such as aluminum which cause high 
reagent consumption in the flotation 



circuit and acid consumption in the phos- 
phoric acid plant. The largest loss of 
phosphate occurs in the washing process. 

Screening is typically used to remove 
the larger limestone and dolomite gangue 
material prior to desliming. In Florida 
the screen oversize (plus 14 mesh) is 
washed to remove clay particles and re- 
screened at 0.75 in to reject limestone 



Phosphate ore 



Overflow 



Minus 
14 mesh 



Overflow 



Minus 

14 mesh 



DISTRIBUTOR 



TROMMEL SCREENS 



FLAT SCREENS 



Plus 
3/4 in I 

To waste 



Minus 
14 mesh 



PRIMARY VIBRATING SCREENS 



To desliming 
(debris) 



Minus 
14 mesh 



PRIMARY LOG WASHERS 



SFCONDAPY VIBRATING SCREENS 



SECONDARY LOG UASHEP' 



FINISHING SCREENS 



Pebble product 
(3/4 In by 14 mesh) 

FIGURE 18, • Typical Florida phosphate washing 
circuit. 



32 



gangue. The Intermediate minus 0.75-in, 
plus 14-mesh pebble fraction is shipped 
directly to the acid plant (fig. 18). 

In the des liming section of the washing 
plant, the clay-sized particles are re- 
moved from the screen undersize fraction 
with cyclones. The minus 150-mesh slimes 
are pumped or flow to the waste clay 
pond. The deslimed material is either 
dried and shipped as a final product or 
sent to further processing for upgrading. 

Flotation 

The primary function of flotation is to 
separate the phosphate minerals from the 
associated quartz sand or carbonate. The 



phosphate grade is increased to market- 
able levels , and the silica and carbonate 
are reduced to acceptable levels for acid 
plant feed specifications (fig. 19). 

Anionic froth flotation is used in the 
rougher circuit to float fine phosphate 
(minus 35 mesh) . The cationic froth flo- 
tation is used in the cleaner circuit to 
remove quartz from the phosphate. 

The anionic collectors used for phos- 
phate flotation are fatty acids which 
include crude tall oil, blends of fatty 
acids, and soap skimmings. The cationic 
collectors used for silica flotation 
include tallow amines and condensed 
amines . 



Slurried phosphate ore 



Wells 



MINING 
AREA 



> WASHER 



Ground water. 



WATER 
RESERVOIR 



Overflow 



Return water 



Pebble 



Clay waste 



Flotation feed 



FLOTATION 



STORAGE 
1 



Concentrated phosphate 



DRYING 



Sand tailings 

Clear decanted water 



WASTE 

STORAGE 

AREA 



SHIPPING 



WASTE 

STORAGE 

AREA 



FIGURE 19. - Typical process flowsheet, Southeastern United States, incorporating flotation processt 



33 



In some cases, the coarser phosphate 
(plus 35, minus 14 mesh) requires the use 
of skin flotation. 

Calcining 

High levels of organic matter in phos- 
phate rock feed to an acid plant cause 
excess foaming and darken the acid color. 
Even after washing and desliming, unac- 
ceptable levels of organics may still re- 
main. Calcining is used to remove the 
organic matter by heating the ore in 
a f luidized-bed calciner to 800° C or 
higher (fig. 20). 

Drying 

To reduce long distance transportation 
costs, it is important to remove as much 
water as possible from the phosphate rock 
by drying. Phosphate rock also must be 
dried if the grinding circuit is designed 
for dry rock. Many grinding and phos- 
phoric acid plants will now accept wet 
rock. Either rotary dyers or fluidized- 
bed dryers are used to dry the rock. The 



-*■ To vasce duaps 
ac mine site 



lau-CtJOz. SHALES 



-» To stockpiles 
at nine site 



KEDrjH-CRASE ORE — i 



HICB-CSA2>£ 0K£ 



1 iJ ELECTRIC FURNACE I 

; I FEED 1 






cd'santc 

1/t la 



CBDSHIHC ' 
1/t In 



CLASSIFTUC 
plus 32 S aes 



Tailings (alnus 325 acsh) 
' to ponds at Bill site 



'J^CIIIWC 



cHoaciu. puurr fees 



FIGURE 20, • Typicol process flowsheet, Western 
United States, incorporating calcining process. 



dry rock is stored in silos or bins until 
shipped. 

BYPRODUCTS 

Phosphate rock contains several materi- 
als that, in most cases, are either very 
expensive to extract as marketable by- 
products or are considered a waste prod- 
uct with little or no market value. The 
most significant of these potential by- 
products are uranium (U3O8), recovered 
from phosphoric acid, vanadium (V2O5), 
removed from f errophosphorus , and fluo- 
rine (F). Gypsum (CaS04*2H20) is a waste 
product from the production of phosphoric 
acid. Few world operations are recover- 
ing any byproducts from phosphate rock. 
This study only considered byproducts at 
operations in which the recovery of that 
commodity significantly impacted upon the 
economics. The following is a discussion 
of each byproduct's present extraction 
process, the potential uses for the by- 
product, and the constraints presently 
inhibiting their recovery. 

Uranium is the most important byproduct 
(or potential byproduct) of phosphate. 
Most phosphate rock contains uranium, al- 
though not in quantities high enough for 
economic extraction. On the average, ap- 
proximately 1 ton of 100% P2O5 phosphoric 
acid will produce 1 lb of recoverable 
U3O8 (p. 

The extraction of uranium from phos- 
phoric acid is technologically very com- 
plex and is not fully comparable to the 
extraction of uranium from other kinds of 
ores. There are three basic steps in 
the recovery of uranium from phosphoric 
acid. First, the uranium compounds are 
dissolved with sulfuric acid at the same 
time that the phosphate rock is digested. 
Next, the uranium is removed from the 
phosphoric acid through a new and techni- 
cally complex solvent extraction process. 
An important key to the solvent extrac- 
tion process is the removal of both im- 
purities and organic materials from the 
acid before solvent extraction of the 
U3O3. These contaminants affect the ef- 
ficiency and subsequently the economics 
of the solvent extraction process. The 



34 



final step in the recovery of uranium is 
concentrating the separated uranium by 
precipitating it out of solution to its 
most common form, the hydrated peroxide 
salt known as "yellow cake." At this 
point, the uranium product is in a form 
suitable for further upgrading through 
standard uranium refining techniques so 
that it can be used as fuel for nuclear 
reactors as well as other uses (_1_) . 

Although some phosphoric acid producers 
are presently recovering the uranium 
(particularly in the Southeastern United 
States) , extensive research is present- 
ly underway to make this process more 
economical, 

Ferrophosphorus is produced as a by- 
product in the production of elemental 
phosphorus, Ferrophosphorus collected in 
the electric furnace contains vanadium as 
well as other metal impurities. It is 
often sold for the purpose of extracting 
vanadium pentoxide. The supply of ferro- 
phosphorus is greater than the demand 
from vanadium recovery plants (I)* 

The fluorine content in phosphate rock 
averages between 3% and 4%, No concen- 
tration of fluorine occurs during produc- 
tion of phosphoric acid. Some fluorine 
is retained in the gypsum waste, some es- 
capes as a gas, and some remains in the 
acid. The fluorine gas fraction that is 
recovered as fluosilicic acid represents 



only about 35% of that which was in the 
rock prior to phosphoric acid production. 
The process to recover the fluosilicic 
acid consists of scrubbing the fluorine 
gas released when phosphate rock is di- 
gested and weak phosphoric acid is heated 
and concentrated to a higher phosphate 
content. The principal uses for fluosi- 
licic acid are for water fluoridation and 
the production of cryolite. This process 
to recover fluosilicic acid is presently 
being used by a number of U.S, phosphoric 
acid producers (1) » 

Phosphogypsum is a waste byproduct from 
the wet phosphoric acid process. It is 
precipitated when the phosphate rock is 
digested with sulfuric acid. Gypsum is 
normally stockpiled at the acid plants, 
with a small percentage used as fertili- 
zer or as a soil conditioner (land plas- 
ter). In the United States, phosphogyp- 
sum is not presently competitive for use 
in construction material nor is it an 
economical source for sulfur (_1^) . 

There are a number of other less sig- 
nificant byproducts presently or poten- 
tially recoverable from phosphate de- 
posits. These include copper, zircon, 
precious metals, and vermiculite at the 
Foskor operation in South Africa, tita- 
nium, columbium, rare earths, and venni- 
culite from Brazilian operations, and 
montmorillonite from the Thies Mine in 
Senegal. 



PHOSPHATE DEPOSIT COSTS 



COSTING METHODOLOGY 

The costs used in this study were col- 
lected or developed using various method- 
ologies. Costs for the deposits in the 
Southeastern United States (including 
Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee) 
were developed by the former Bureau 
of Mines Eastern Field Operations Center 
in Pittsburgh, PA, in conjunction with 
Zellars-Williams , Inc. A more detailed 
discussion and breakdown of these costs 
and the models used to develop them are 
available in a Bureau of Mines report 



entitled "Phosphate Rock Availability — 
Domestic, A Minerals Availability Program 
Appraisal" (6), Costs for the deposits 
in the Western United States (Idaho, Mon- 
tana, Utah, and Wyoming) were developed 
by Bureau of Mines Field Operations Cen- 
ters in Denver, CO, and Spokane, WA, us- 
ing various methodologies such as scaling 
from known values, the MAS Cost Estimat- 
ing System (CES) (32), and actual re- 
ported company data. The costs from all 
the other world countries were collected 
or developed by Zellars-Williams, Inc., 
under a contract with the Bureau of 



35 



Mines. Some of the foreign deposit costs 
are actual company reported data, al- 
though in most cases they were developed 
using the contractor's computerized cost 
model. This cost model uses data on la- 
bor, equipment, and supplies that are 
site specific for each deposit. An esti- 
mate was made for the input quantities 
for these variables, and then a unit cost 
was assigned for each variable. The unit 
costs were based on local rates at that 
deposit converted to 1981 U.S. dollars. 
The final product of this model is a unit 
cost for each portion of the mining- 
milling operation. 

Capital expenditures were calculated 
for exploration, acquisition, develop- 
ment, mine plant and equipment, and con- 
structing and equipping the mill plant, 
all in U.S. dollars. Capital expendi- 
tures for mining and processing facili- 
ties include the costs of mobile and 
stationary equipment, construction, engi- 
neering, facilities and utilities, and 
working capital. A broad category, fa- 
cilities and utilities (infrastructure) , 
includes the cost of access and haulage 
facilities, water facilities, power sup- 
ply, and personnel accommodations. Work- 
ing capital is a revolving cash fund re- 
quired for such operating expenses as 
labor, supplies, taxes, and insurance. 

Mine and mill operating costs were also 
calculated for each deposit, in U.S. dol- 
lars. The total operating cost is a com- 
bination of direct and indirect costs. 
Direct operating costs include materials, 
utilities, direct and maintenance labor, 
and payroll overhead. Indirect operating 
costs include technical and clerical 
labor, administrative costs, facilities 
maintenance and supplies, and research. 
Fixed charges , which mainly include local 
taxes and insurance, are also included in 
the mine and mill operating costs. 

PRODUCTION COSTS 

Table 5 and figure 21 illustrate the 
average costs for selected surface oper- 
ations included in this study (ex- 
pressed in January 1981 U.S. dollars per 
ton of product). In most cases, the mine 



operating cost for surface deposits is $7 
to $13 and mill operating costs is $8 to 
$14. A few areas in the world deviate 
from these ranges, particularly the mill 
operating cost in Morocco, where benefi- 
ciation merely consists of screening and 
drying the ore, and in South America, 
where the mill operating cost reflects 
the high cost of benef iciating the car- 
bonatite ore of Brazil. Mining and mill- 
ing costs for nonproducers are generally 
greater than those for producers; this is 
due to the fact for most of the nonpro- 
ducing deposits, grades are lower and 
stripping ratios tend to be higher, caus- 
ing greater costs. The column labeled 
"Other" primarily includes estimated tax 
payments. These costs are also greater 
for nonproducers, because in most cases 
the overall total costs and revenues nec- 
essary to cover them are greater. Trans- 
portation costs from mine to plant or 
port are in most cases small except in 
the Western United States where the rock 
in Utah and Wyoming is assumed to go to 
Idaho and in Australia where the deposits 
are in the middle of Queensland and the 
rock must be transported to the coast. 

Table 6 and figure 22 illustrate pro- 
duction costs for underground mines and 
deposits, mainly representing the pro- 
ducers in north Africa and the nonpro- 
ducers in the United States (Utah and 
Wyoming) . When comparing this table to 
the previous one on surface mines, it is 
apparent, as would be expected, that the 
underground mines are much more expensive 
to operate. In the case of the north 
African underground mines , even though 
they are more expensive to operate than 
the surface mines, they are near enough 
to a market that they would still be eco- 
nomical. The underground deposits in the 
Western United States (particularly the 
nonproducers in Utah and Wyoming) have 
costs much higher than any of the other 
evaluated phosphate deposits in the 
world. This is largely due to the char- 
acteristics of the ore, coupled with the 
higher costs of underground mining. 
These highly uneconomical deposits are 
not likely to be developed in the near 
future. 



36 



TABLE 5. - Production costs for selected world phosphate surface mines and deposits 

(All costs are expressed as January 1981 U.S. dollars per metric ton product 

on a weight-averaged basis) 











Total 


Transpor- 


Total 


Average 










opera- 


tation 


operating 


cost^ 


Region and country 


Mine 


Mill 


Other' 


ting 


cost to 


cost 


total 










cost 


plant or 


including 


at plant 










(f .o.b. 


port^ 


transpor- 


or port 










mill) 




tation 




North America: United 
















States: 
















Southeast:^ 
















Producers ........•• 


$8.60 
9.10 


$12.30 
13.80 


$1.80 
7.30 


$22.70 
30.20 


$3.50 
4.20 


$26.20 
34.40 


$28.90 


Nonproducers 

West:^ 


50.30 
















Producers ...••..... 


11.20 
17.90 


16.70 
13.40 


1.20 
6.60 


29.10 
37.90 


11.70 
10.20 


40.80 
48.10 


43.00 


Nonproducers 


63.90 


North Africa: Morocco 
















and Western Sahara: 
















Producers. ......... 


10.60 
9.10 


5.70 
7.50 


7.70 
14.30 


24.00 
30.90 


2.10 
2.40 


26.10 
33.30 


32.40 


Nonproducers 


46.60 


Middle East: 
















Israel, Egypt, and 
















Jordan: 
















Producers .......... 


10.20 
W 


13.00 

W 


3.10 

W 


26.30 
W 


6.00 
W 


32.30 

W 


44.80 


Nonproducers 


W 


Syria, Iraq, and 
















Turkey: 
















Producers .......... 


10.00 
W 


9.60 
W 


9.00 
W 


28.60 
W 


14.20 
W 


43.30 
W 


55.20 


Nonproducers 


W 


Oceania: 
















Christmas Island and 
















Nauru : Produce rs . . . 


6.90 


8.60 


8.80 


24.30 


0.00 


24.30 


27.30 


Australia: 
















Producers 


W 
7.60 


W 
12.40 


W 
6.40 


W 
26.40 


W 
12.30 


W 
38.70 


W 


Nonproducers 


53.50 


South America: Brazil, 
















Peru, and Venezuela: 
















Producers ••.....•.. 


10.50 
13.50 


26.90 
22.90 


8.80 
19.30 


46.20 
55.70 


3.40 
2.40 


49.60 
58.10 


66.80 


Nonproducers 


84.20 


West Africa: Senegal 
















and Togo: Producers.. 


10.10 


12.30 


1.60 


24.00 


2.00 


26.00 


30.80 


W Withheld to avoid dis 


closinj 


; indivi 


dual de] 


posit dat 


:a. 






'includes all property, 


State, 


Federal 


, and S( 


2ve ranee 


taxes plus 


any royalty 


', 


^Transportation costs tc 


► select 


:ed port 


s or ac 


Ld plants 


5 that have 


been assume 


d as the 



product destination points for this study. (See table 12.) 

3lncludes a 15% DCFROR on all capital investments over the life of the property, 

'^ Includes Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. 

^Includes Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming 



100 



37 



90 



80 



o 

T3 



tn 
O 



< 
O 



KEY 

QI57o rate of return on all investments 
over the life of the property 

[ 1 Transportation cost 

j — I Prof>erty, State, Federal, and severance 
' — ' taxes plus royalty 

^ Mill operating cost 

■ Mine operating cost 



< 
o 

UJ 

4 




PRODUCERS 




-NONPRODUCERS 



FIGURE 21t • Production costs for selected world phosphate surface mines and depositst 



38 



TABLE 6. - Production costs for selected world phosphate underground mines 
and deposits 

(All costs are expressed as January 1981 U.S. dollars per metric ton 
product on a weight-averaged basis) 











Total 


Transpor- 


Total 


Average 










operating 


tation 


operat- 


total 


Region and 


Mine 


Mill 


Other' 


cost 


cost to 


ing cost 


cost^ at 


country 








(f .o.b. 


plant or 


including 


plant 










mill) 


port^ 


transpor- 
tation 


or port 


North America: United 
















States^ and Mexico: 
















Producers 


W 
$44.00 


W 
$30.30 


W 
$13.80 


W 
$88.10 


W 
$11.40 


W 
$99.50 


W 


Nonproducers 


$130.80 


North Africa: 
















Morocco: Producers. 


11.90 


9.20 


6.30 


27.40 


1.50 


28.90 


34.10 


Tunisia: Producers, 


15.50 


12.10 


5.60 


33.20 


10.10 


43.30 


58.80 


Middle East: Egypt: 
















Producers 


15.60 
W 


20.00 

W 


7.00 
W 


42.60 
W 


0.90 

w 


43.50 
W 


68.30 


Nonproducers 


W 



W Withheld to avoid disclosing individual 
'includes all property, State, Federal, and 
^Transportation costs to selected ports or 
product destination points for this study. ( 
^Includes a 15% DCFROR on all capital inves 
^Includes Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. 



deposit data, 
severance taxes plus any royalty, 
acid plants that have been assumed as 
See table 12.) 
tments over the life of the property. 

CAPITAL COSTS 



KEY 

77;^ 15% rote of return on all investments 
■^ over the life of the property 

j:;:::| Transportation cost 

□ Property, State, Federal, and severance 
taxes plus royalty 

fj%J Mill operating cost 

^1 Mine operating cost 



I I 



-PRODUCERS- 



L, 



NONPRODUCERS' 



A 



FIGURE 22. * Production costs for selected world 
phosphate underground mines and depositsi 



Table 7 shows the average capital costs 
estimated for this study to develop non- 
producing surface deposits. These costs 
represent the costs to acquire, explore, 
develop, and equip a new mine site, along 
with construction of any mine and mill 
plants and buildings necessary. The ta- 
ble shows that in most cases the capital 
cost for the mill (plant and equipment) 
is the largest cost in developing a phos- 
phate deposit (40% to 60% of total capi- 
tal investment) . Not shown on the table 
are infrastructure costs, which in coun- 
tries like Australia or Brazil can be 
very large and can make the difference 
between developing and not developing. 

COMPARISON OF FLORIDA 
AND MOROCCAN COSTS 

A comparison was made between costs at 
nonproducing surface deposits in Florida 
and Morocco (table 8) . The operating 
costs shown are f.o.b. mill; transporta- 
tion charges have not been included. The 
capital cost shown is the cost required 
to bring the operation into production; 



39 



TABLE 7. - Capital costs to develop nonproducing surface phosphate mines 
in selected countries, January 1981 dollars 





Thousand metric 


Capital cost. 


million doll 


ars 


Cost, 


per 




tons per year 


Exploration 
acquisition. 


Mine 


Mill 


Total 1 


annual ton 




Ore 


Product 


Ore 


Product 








and development 












United States 


















(Southeast) : 


















Small 


2,500 


450 


$9.6 


$8.9 


$21.3 


$39.8 


$15.90 


$88.40 


Medium 


5,600 


1,000 


32.2 


16.1 


38.3 


86.6 


15.50 


86.60 


Large 


15,600 


2,400 


74.6 


34.5 


71.4 


180.5 


11.60 


75.20 


Brazil 


3,200 


530 


11.8 


9.1 


54.7 


75.6 


23.60 


142.60 


Morocco 


6,200 


3.300 


45.7 


75.1 


74.4 


195.2 


31.50 


59.20 


Australia. . . . 


8,700 


3,700 


5.1 


26.4 


42.0 


73.5 


8.50 


19.90 



Excludes any infrastructure. 

TABLE 8. - Comparison of nonproducing Florida and Morocco surface 
phosphate deposit costs 

(All costs are in U.S. January 1981 dollars, f.o.b. mill) 



Mine or mill operating cost, dollars per 
metric ton product: 

Labor 

Electricity 

Diesel. 

Supplies 

Drying fuel , 

General and administrative (G&A) 

Total 

Capital cost, million dollars: 

Acquisition , 

Exploration , 

Development 

Mill plant , 

Mine equipment , 

Infrastructure , 

Working capital , 

Total , 



Florida 
No. 1^ 



$3.10 
3.90 
.10 
4.70 
1.90 
4.10 



17.80 



44 
4 
11 
83 
33 
I 
17 



NAp 



192 



Florida 
No. 2^ 



$4.50 
5.80 
.10 
7.20 
2.90 
6.10 



26.60 



44 

6 

17 

121 

50 

I 

17 



NAp 



255 



Morocco-' 



$3.50 
1.60 
1.90 
4.60 
3.40 
4.90 



19.90 



1 
47 
49 
53 
28 
19 



216 



NAp Not applicable. 

'Deposit that will probably be developed during the next 10 yr. 
^Deposit that will probably be developed in 20 to 40 yr. 
^Deposit that will probably be developed during the next 5 to 10 yr, 
^This cost may not be applicable from the standpoint of the Govern- 
ment of Morocco. 



reinvestments and costs of planned expan- 
sions are not included. The costs repre- 
sent a typical mine that would produce 
between 2.5 and 3 million tons of rock, 
product per year. The Florida No. 1 



deposit is an example of a mine that 
would be developed in the next 10 years, 
while the No. 2 deposit would not be 
mined for 20 to 40 years. The Moroccan 
deposit is an example of one to be mined 



40 



in the next 5 to 10 years. The Florida 
deposits have lower grade reserves typi- 
cal of the areas immediately south of the 
active mining district in central Florida 
(the southern extension) , with magnesium 
oxide content of these deposits accept- 
able for conventional processing. The 
Florida No. 2 deposit has a feed grade 
and mill recovery value significantly 
lower than the Florida No. 1 deposit, al- 
though both produce a rock product con- 
taining approximately 30% P2O5 • 

As shown in the table, the Florida No. 
1 deposit has only slightly lower total 
operating costs than the Moroccan depos- 
it, while costs at Florida No. 2 are one- 
third greater, which in part reflects the 
lower grade and recovery at No. 2. The 
table shows that fuel costs are greater 
in Morocco, but electricity costs are 
greater in the Florida deposits. In 
reality, the fuel costs per unit do not 



differ greatly between the Moroccan and 
Florida operations, although the cost per 
ton is greater at the Moroccan operation 
because most of the equipment is diesel 
fuel operated (the draglines, shovels, 
etc.). Most Florida mining equipment is 
electrically powered (draglines, flota- 
tion units, etc.), and therefore electri- 
cal costs per ton of product are greater. 
Since much of the Moroccan rock is dried 
for export, drying costs are an addition- 
al factor. 

It is important to note that the Moroc- 
can mine has a much larger resource at a 
higher ore grade than either of the Flor- 
ida deposits; at the production rates 
used in this comparison (2.5 to 3 million 
tons of rock per year) the Moroccan mine 
would produce for over 300 years while 
Florida No. 1 and No. 2 would last for 
only 20 and 40 years, respectively. 



PHOSPHATE ROCK AVAILABILITY 



ECONOMIC EVALUATION METHODOLOGY 

After capital and operating costs were 
determined, the data were entered into 
the MAS Supply Analysis Model (SAM). The 
Bureau of Mines developed the SAM to per- 
form discounted cash flow rate of return 
(DCFROR) analyses to determine the price 
of the primary commodity required for 
each operation to obtain a specified rate 
of return on its investments (33) . This 
determined value for the phosphate rock 
price is equivalent to the average total 
cost of production for the operation over 
its producing life under the set of as- 
sumptions and conditions (e.g., mine 
plan, full capacity production, and a 
market for all output) that is necessary 
in order to make an evaluation. The 
DCFROR is most commonly defined as the 
rate of return that makes the present 
worth of cash flow from an investment 
equal to the present worth of all after- 
tax investments (34). For this study, a 
15% DCFROR was considered the necessary 
rate of return to cover the opportunity 
cost of capital plus risk. 



Based on the MAS methodology, all capi- 
tal investments incurred 15 years before 
the initial year of the analysis (January 
1981) are treated as sunk costs. Capital 
investments incurred less than 15 years 
before January 1981 have the undepreci- 
ated balances carried forward to January 
1981, with all subsequent investments re- 
ported in constant January 1981 dollar 
terms. This computation means that for 
producing operations, the undepreciated 
capital investment remaining in 1981 was 
calculated. All reinvestment, operating, 
and transportation costs are expressed in 
January 1981 dollars. No escalation of 
either costs or prices was included be- 
cause, assumedly, any increase in costs 
would be offset by an increase in price. 

A separate tax-records file, maintained 
for each State and/or nation, contains 
the relevant fiscal parameters under 
which the mining firm would operate. 
This file includes corporate income 
taxes, property taxes, and any royalties, 
severance taxes, or other taxes that per- 
tain to phosphate rock production. These 



41 



tax parameters are applied to each min- 
eral deposit under evaluation, with the 
implicit assumption that each deposit 
represents a separate corporate entity. 
The system also contains an additional 
file of economic indices to allow for 
continuous updating of all cost estimates 
to a base date (January 1981 for this 
s tudy ) . 

Beginning with 1981, the first year of 
the analysis, detailed cash flow analyses 
were generated for each preproduction and 
production year of an operation. Upon 
completion of the individual property 
analyses, all properties included in the 
study were simultaneously analyzed and 
aggregated onto resource availability 
curves. The total resource availability 
curve is a tonnage-cost relationship that 
shows the total quantity of recoverable 
product potentially available at each 
operation's average total cost of produc- 
tion over the life of the mine, deter- 
mined at the stipulated (15%) DCFROR. 
Thus, the curve is an aggregation of the 
total potential phosphate rock that could 
be produced over the entire producing 
life of each operation, ordered from 
operations with the lowest average total 
cost of production to those with the 
highest. The curve provides a concise, 
easy-to-read, graphic analysis of the 
comparative costs associated with any 
given level of potential output and pro- 
vides an estimate of what the average 
long-run phosphate rock price (in January 
1981 dollars) would likely have to be 
in order for a given tonnage to be po- 
tentially available to the marketplace. 
Two types of curves have been generated 
for this study: (1) total availability 
curves and (2) annual curves at selected 
production costs. Annual curves are sim- 
ply a disaggregation of the total curve 
to show annual phosphate rock availabil- 
ity at varying costs of production. 

Certain assumptions are inherent in the 
curves. First, all deposits produce at 
full operating capacity throughout the 
productive life of the deposit. Second, 
each operation is able to sell all of its 
output at a price equal to or greater 
than its average total production cost. 



Third, development of each nonproducing 
deposit began in the same base year (N) 
(unless the property was developing at 
the time of the evaluation). Since it is 
difficult, if not impossible, to predict 
when the explored deposits are going to 
be developed, this assumption was neces- 
sary. Also, the preproduction period al- 
lows for only the minimum engineering and 
construction period necessary to initiate 
production under the proposed development 
plan. Consequently, the additional time 
lags and potential costs involved in fil- 
ing environmental impact statements, 
receiving required permits, financing, 
etc. , have not been included in the indi- 
vidual deposit analyses. 

The potential tonnage and the estimated 
average total cost over the life of the 
mine for each of the 201 mines and depos- 
its evaluated have been aggregated onto 
phosphate rock availability curves, which 
illustrate the comparative costs associ- 
ated with any given level of potential 
total output. Costs reflect not only 
capital and operating costs, but also all 
pertinent taxation and the cost of trans- 
porting the rock product to the nearest 
port or acid plant. A comparison of 
costs on an f.o.b. mill basis and a dis- 
cussion of ocean freight charges appear 
later in this section. Potential avail- 
ability of phosphate rock from China and 
the U.S.S.R. is described in the text 
but is not included on curves owing to 
the difficulty in gathering accurate 
cost data and developing U.S. dollar 
equivalents. 

TOTAL AVAILABILITY 

At the demonstrated resource level, ap- 
proximately 34.2 billion tons of phos- 
phate rock is potentially recoverable 
from the 201 mines and deposits in market 
economy countries, with Morocco and West- 
ern Sahara (21 billion tons) accounting 
for 61% of the total, followed by the 
United States (6.4 billion tons) at 19%. 
In addition, the 17 deposits evaluated in 
the U.S.S.R. and China contain approxi- 
mately 1.5 billion tons of potentially 
recoverable phosphate rock. 



42 



Market Economy Countries 

The tonnage of phosphate rock poten- 
tially available from the deposits ana- 
lyzed in market economy countries is 
shown in figure 23. A total of 32.9 bil- 
lion tons of phosphate rock is potential- 
ly recoverable at total production costs 
ranging from $17 to $100 per ton (in Jan- 
uary 1981 dollars) from 175 mines and de- 
posits. Approximately 1.6 billion tons 
is potentially recoverable at costs rang- 
ing up to $30 per ton (55% from the 
United States), 10.6 billion tons at 



costs ranging up to $40 (13% from the 
United States), and 15.7 billion tons at 
costs up to $50 (21% from the United 
States). An additional 1.3 billion tons 
could potentially be produced at a cost 
of over $100 per ton from 26 deposits 
which are not shown on the curves . 

The curve for north Africa includes po- 
tential production from Algeria, Morocco, 
Tunisia, and Western Sahara. Approxi- 
mately 21.3 billion tons of phosphate 
rock (94% from Morocco) is potentially 
recoverable from the 20 north African 



100 



80 



60 



40- 



20 



/ 



MARKET ECONOMY 
COUNTRIES 



10 



20 25 30 35 




H 

o 
o 



< 
o 




6.0 



uu 


I 1 


1 1 




I 1 ' 1 


J ' 


80 


- 






f 


- 


60 


- 






r 


40 












- 






20 




1 1 


1 


MIDDLE EAST 

1 1 1 1 ._ 



0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 



TOTAL RECOVERABLE PHOSPHATE ROCK, billion metric tons 

FIGURE 23. * Phosphate rock potentially recoverable from all mines and deposits in market economy countries. 
Note that curves are drawn at different scales. 



43 



mines and deposits evaluated, or 62% of 
the market economy country total. At 
costs ranging from $24 to $30 per ton, 
612 million tons of phosphate rock is 
potentially recoverable, 7.8 billion tons 
is potentially recoverable at costs up to 
$40 per ton, and 8.1 billion tons is po- 
tentially recoverable at costs up to $50 
per ton. 

The curve for the United States shows 
5.6 billion tons of phosphate rock poten- 
tially recoverable from 110 mines and de- 
posits at costs ranging from $17.50 to 
$96.50 per ton. Approximately 8 75 mil- 
lion tons of phosphate rock is potential- 
ly recoverable at costs ranging up to $30 
per ton, 1.4 billion tons at costs up to 
$40 per ton, and 3.3 billion tons at 
costs up to $50 per ton. Another 822 
million tons potentially recoverable from 
20 deposits (mostly in Wyoming and Utah) 
at costs greater than $100 per ton is not 
shown on the curve. 

The curve for the Middle East illus- 
trates potential production of 1.9 bil- 
lion tons at costs ranging from $30 to 
$96 per ton from 16 mines and deposits in 
Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Ara- 
bia, Syria, and Turkey. An additional 
234 million tons of estimated potential 
production from one deposit in Egypt is 
not shown on the curve because its esti- 
mated cost of production is over $100 per 
ton. Potential recoverable phosphate 
from the Middle East amounts to 6% of the 
market economy country total. 

The three regions highlighted in figure 
23 account for 8 7% of the recoverable 
demonstrated phosphate rock resources of 
market economy countries. Other regions 
included in the total availability curve 
for market economy countries but not 
shown on separate curves are South Ameri- 
ca, Oceania (which includes Australia and 
Nauru), Mexico, Senegal, the Republic of 
South Africa, and Zimbabwe. South Amer- 
ica has an estimated production potential 
of 654 million tons of phosphate rock 
from 14 mines and deposits in Brazil (11 
mines and deposits), Peru, Colombia, and 
Venezuela (1 deposit each). Oceania has 
an estimated production potential of 567 



million tons from six mines and deposits 
in Australia and one mine in Nauru. The 
combined potential tonnage from Senegal 
(two mines), the Republic of South Afri- 
ca, Togo, and Zimbabwe (one mine each) 
amounts to 2.8 billion tons. 

Figure 24 presents availability curves 
for all market economy countries, north 
Africa, the United States, and the Middle 
East, comparing potentially recoverable 
phosphate rock from producing mines with 
that from developing mines and explored 
deposits. Of the 34.2 billion tons of 
phosphate rock estimated to be potential- 
ly available from market economy coun- 
tries, 39% is from producing mines and 
61% is from undeveloped deposits. The 
curve for north Africa shows that produc- 
ing mines account for 7.1 billion tons of 
potential recoverable phosphate rock (34% 
of the total potential for north Africa 
of 21.3 billion tons) and that developing 
mines and explored deposits account for 
14.2 billion tons (67% of the north Afri- 
ca total). For the United Staes, out of 
a potential total of 6.4 billion tons of 
phosphate rock, 1.3 billion tons is from 
producing mines (21%), and undeveloped 
deposits account for slightly over 5 bil- 
lion tons (79%). Of the 2.1 billion tons 
of phosphate rock potentially available 
from the Middle East, 1.4 billion is from 
producing mines (66%) and 773 million 
(36%) is from undeveloped deposits. 

Centrally Planned Economy Countries 

The 7 mines in China (6 producing and 
1 developing) investigated at the demon- 
strated level for this study contain 208 
million tons of potentially recoverable 
phosphate rock, and the 11 mines in the 
U.S.S.R. (10 producing and 1 developing) 
contain 1.3 billion tons. Estimated 
costs of production range from $11.50 to 
$86.50 per ton of phosphate rock product. 
Generally, the Chinese mines have lower 
total production costs than those of the 
U.S.S.R., with the exception of the de- 
veloping Kunming deposit, which ranks 
with the higher cost Soviet mines. Re- 
sources of phosphate rock in both China 
and the U.S.S.R. are relatively small 
compared with those of the United States 



44 



100 



80 



60 



40 



^ 20 

E 



T 1 1 r 

— Producers 



1 r 



1 — TT 



Nonproducers 



, I 



; 



J 



I 



J 



._/' 

^ 



MARKET ECONOMY 
COUNTRIES 



J L 



O 1^ 


1 1 1 1 1 ^ 


' .^-^ 


I-" 




^_i 


w 




rl 


o 




1 


O 80 

_1 


~ 


J 

J 


? 




/ 


o 






^ 60 


— 


y 


~ 




/ „r— ' 




40 


;./""7"' 


' 




^ 




_ 


20 


r 




UNITED STATES 

1 1 1 i J 1 


1 1 



5 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 

100 



80 
60 


■ r- 1 1 1 1 

r 
_ 1 


! 
1 1 ' 


- 


40 


1 J 

1 ' 


. 




__J ^ 




20 


^ 




NORTH AFRICA 

1 1 I 


_1, 1 



25 



5.0 



7.5 10.0 



12.5 



15.0 



0.5 



1.5 




2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 0.2 0.4 0.6 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE PHOSPHATE ROCK, billion metric tons 



FIGURE 24. * Phosphate rock potentially recoverable from producing mines and nonproducing deposits in 
economy countries. Note that curves are drawn at different scales. 



1.4 

market 



and Morocco. The U.S.S.R. is the domi- 
nant factor in supplying the Eastern 
European market. It is doubtful that ei- 
ther China or the U.S.S.R. will become a 
major supplier in the world market for 
phosphate rock and related fertilizers; 
more likely, these countries represent 
potential export markets for Western 
phosphate producers. 

ANNUAL AVAILABILITY 

Another way of illustrating phosphate 
availability is to disaggregate the total 
resource availability curve and show po- 
tential availability on an annual basis. 
For analysis, separate annual availabil- 
ity curves have been constructed for pro- 
ducing and proposed operations in mar- 
ket economy countries. Separate annual 
availability curves have been constructed 



for all producing mines in market econ- 
omy countries, north Africa, the United 
States, and the Middle East. For unde- 
veloped deposits, only one curve for the 
market economy countries was constructed. 
Since no realistic development schedule 
can be proposed for all of the undevel- 
oped deposits, the emphasis of this curve 
is to indicate capacity and cost levels 
of potential future deposits. 

Potential annual production of phos- 
phate from producing mines in market 
economy countries, north Africa, the 
United States , and the Middle East from 
1981 to 1995 is shown in figure 25. The 
curves reflect the production capacity of 
existing mines , including planned expan- 
sions when known. It was assumed that 
all operations produce at full (100-pct) 
capacity over the life of the mine. 



45 



140 

120 

100- 

o 80- 
o _ 

• 60- 



ic 20 
u 
o 
q: 



^ 50 

I 

Q. 
</> 

o 

J 40 

UJ 

_i 

(D 

2 30 

> 

o 
u 

it; 20 



\. 



^ — ^ 



$50 



MARKET ECONOMY 

COUNTRIES 




60 



50 



40- 



- 30- 



20- 



10 





1 T- T- 


1 1 


1 




"^ 


~'~"~'-v 








■^.., 


\ 
\ 






- 


-^ 


\ 




\\ V^ 


^ 




















\^ ^~ 


^^^-s$50 




- 






-— ^^^4(^^ 


^s 


- 


UNITED STATES 

1 1 1. 


1 ' 


$30 

1 


^ 



10- 






\ \ 
. \ 
■. \ 



$75 
/$50 



\ / 



NORTH AFRICA 



$30 



_L 




1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 198! 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 

FIGURE 25, - Potential annual production from producing mines in market economy countries at various cost 
level s« Note that curves are drawn at different scales. 



Since actual production may be at less 
than capacity levels, the curves shown in 
this section would not actually decline 
as rapidly as shown. The curves shown in 
figure 25 illustrate the fact that poten- 
tial production from producing mines in 
the United States will likely decline 
dramatically after 1986, while production 
from north Africa, in particular, will 
continue to increase through 1987. The 
U.S. phosphate industry has been produc- 
ing at much less than full capacity since 
mid-1981, however, so the decline in po- 
tential U.S. production shown on the 
curve will actually be delayed for sev- 
eral more years and the eventual decline 
will be more gradual than shown. Al- 
though potential annual capacity in north 
Africa will decrease between 1987 and 
1993, additional capacity expansions are 
schedulaed after 1993. 

The estimated annual production capac- 
ities for each producing country at 



different cost levels in 1983 and 1995 
are shown in tables 9 and 10. The pro- 
duction capacities listed for each cost 
level were used to construct the annual 
curves. As shown in table 9, the esti- 
mated capacity for mines in market econ- 
omy countries in 1983 is 122.7 million 
tons of phosphate rock at production 
costs ranging up to $75 per ton. This 
compares with actual production of 101.1 
million tons of phosphate rock in 1981. 
The estimated capacity for the United 
States in 1983 of 55.3 million tons is 
slightly higher than the 1981 production 
of 54 million tons. 

Although not shown on the curves , an 
additional 1.6 million tons of phosphate 
rock could be produced at production 
costs over $75 per ton from mines in Bra- 
zil, Egypt, and Finland. These high-cost 
producers either are subsidized or com- 
pete against high-cost phosphate rock im- 
ports (such as in Brazil) . 



46 



TABLE 9. - Estimated potential annual production capacities in market economy 
countries by 1983, for mines that produced in 1981 

(Thousand metric tons) 



Region and 


Cost per ton 


Total 


country 


$17-$30 


$30.01-$40 


$40.01-$50 


$50.01-$60 


$60.01-$75 




North America: 

United States.... 
Mexico 


44,842 

16,434 
3,001 

1,400 
2,491 


3,986 

8,919 
1,830 

100 

1,000 
5,819 


5,956 

141 

2,005 
3,031 

3,261 

129 

770 
2,135 


159 
1,204 

1,998 
849 

1,701 
2,501 


329 
801 

2,425 

468 

1,901 



179 

230 

250 
475 


55,272 
801 


South America: 

Brazil 


3,629 


Colombia 


141 


Venezuela 

North Africa: 

Algeria 


468 
2,005 


Morocco 


27,351 


Tunisia 


5,781 


Other African 
countries: 
Seneffal .......... 


1,830 


South Africa 

Togo 

Zimbabwe 


3,261 

3,001 

179 


Middle East: 

Egypt 

Iraq 

Israel 


459 
1,701 
3,501 


Jordan. .......... 


6,589 


Syria 


2,135 


Oceania: 

Australia 

Nauru 


1,650 
2,491 


Other: India 


475 


Total 


68,168 


21,654 


17,428 


8,412 


7,058 


122,720 



NOTE. — Dashes indicate that the cost range contains no tonnage. 



Table 10 shows potential production of 
88.5 million tons of phosphate rock in 
1995 at production costs ranging up to 
$75 per ton. The interesting comparison 
between tables 9 and 10 is the decline in 
potential production capacity for the 
United States compared to the increase 
for Morocco. The United States shows a 
decline from 55.2 million tons in 1983 to 
16.4 million tons in 1995 as the demon- 
strated resources of producing mines be- 
come exhausted. Morocco, on the other 
hand, shows an increase from 27.3 mil- 
lion tons in 1983 to 31.3 million tons in 
1995. 



Potential production of phosphate rock 
in 1995 at costs of under $30 per ton 
would decline to 21.1 million tons com- 
pared with 68.2 million tons in 1983. 
The U.S. share of this production would 
decline to 51.5%, while Morocco's share 
would be 29.3%. Of the 33.4 million tons 
of phosphate that could be produced in 
1995 at costs between $30 and $40 per 
ton, the United States would account for 
only 4.1% and Morocco would account for 
over 69%. At estimated production costs 
between $40 and $50, 15.9 million tons of 
phosphate rock could be produced in 1995, 
with the United States accounting for 



47 



TABLE 10. - Estimated potential annual production capacities in market economy 
countries by 1995, for mines that produced in 1981 

(Thousand metric tons) 



Region and country 


Cost per ton 


Total 




$I8-$30 


$30.01-$40 


$40.01-$50 


$50.01-$60 


$60.01-$75 




North America: 

United States 

Mexico 


10,850 

6,172 
4,065 


1,360 

23,127 
1,979 

100 

1,000 
5,819 


3,746 

564 

2,005 
1,547 

5,608 

129 

770 
1,492 


159 
2,208 

1,998 

1,701 
2,501 


329 

801 

3,427 
468 

1,401 

270 

1,000 
1,103 


16,444 
801 


South America: 

Brazil 


5,635 


Colombia. ......... 


564 


Venezuela. ........ 


468 


North Africa: 

Algeria. •••....... 


2,005 


Morocco. ••••.....• 


31,297 


Tunisia. .......... 


3,79 7 


Other African 
countries: 
Sene2al. .......... 


1,979 


South Africa 

To so 


5,608 
4,065 


Middle East: 

Egypt 


499 


"6/ i**-. ...... ...... 

Iraq ,,, 


1,701 


Is rael. 


3,501 


Jordan. ........... 


6,589 


Syria 


1,492 


Oceania: Australia. 
Other: India 


1,000 
1,103 


Total 


21,087 


33,385 


15,861 


9,416 


8,799 


88,548 



NOTE. — Dashes indicate that the cost range contains no tonnage, 



23.6% and Morocco having zero potential 
production in this cost range. Brazil 
would dominate production in the $50 to 
$75 cost range with 30.9% of the poten- 
tial 1995 production. 

If the market permitted it, some of the 
estimated decline of production by pro- 
ducing mines in the United States could 
be counteracted by an expansion of 
production capacities of the remaining 
producers that have large resources, al- 
though such an expansion would effective- 
ly shorten their producing lives. Future 
U.S. needs will have to be met through 
the development of new mines, which in 
most cases will have higher total costs, 
or possibly through importation. 



The potential annual availability curve 
for all of the undeveloped deposits in 
market economy countries is shown in fig- 
ure 26. Since no definite startup is 
known or available for most of these de- 
posits, it was assumed that preproduction 
began in a base year (N) of the analysis 
which cannot be connected with an actual 
year since production from many of these 
deposits is not expected in the near fu- 
ture. However, the annual curves for un- 
developed deposits do show the required 
lead times before production can begin 
and therefore are important in that they 
show the potential production costs and 
potential annual capacities of the mines 
of the future. In these curves, all un- 
developed deposits (with the exception of 



48 




/V+6 ^+8 

YEAR 



^+10 



FIGURE 26. - Potential annual production from de- 
veloping mines and explored deposits in market econ- 
omy countries at various cost levels. 

the mines that are currently under devel- 
opment) assumedly begin preproduction 
development at the same time; consequent- 
ly the tonnage available in a given year 
is overstated since not all of the non- 
producers will begin preproduction devel- 
opment simultaneously. Mines that are 
currently developing appear in the first 
couple of years, and then potential annul 
production increases dramatically as 
the other nonproducers begin to come on- 
stream in the year 717+4. The key factor 
that this curve highlights is the tonnage 
differential at the different cost lev- 
els. Under the assumption that all of 
the nonproducing deposits began prepro- 
duction development in year N, all would 
be producing at full capacity by the year 
^+10 (although some capacity expansions 
would continue to occur beyond that 
time). In this case, 136.9 million tons 
of phosphate rock could be produced in 
the year N+IO at production costs ranging 
up to $100 per ton. (An additional 21.2 
million tons at estimated production 
costs greater than $100 is not shown on 
the curve.) Of this amount, 15.3 million 
tons could be produced at costs under $35 
per ton: 67% from the United States, 31% 
from Morocco, and 2% from Australia. At 
production costs between $35 and $45 per 
ton, 28.8 million tons of phosphate rock 
could be produced: 76% from the United 
States, 14% from Jordan, and 10% from the 



Western Sahara. From $45.01 to $60 per 
ton, 49.3 million tons of phosphate rock 
could be produced: 71% from the United 
States, 22% from Australia, and 6% from 
Morocco. From $60.01 to $75 per ton, an 
additional 24 million- tons of phosphate 
could be produced: 8% from the United 
States, 14% from Peru, and the remaining 
18% from Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Pakis- 
tan. Of the 19.5 million tons that could 
be produced from $75 to $100 per ton, 82% 
would be from the United States , mainly 
from deposits in the West. The data un- 
derlying figure 26 are shown in tabular 
form in table 11. The United States pre- 
dominates in the potential production of 
phosphate rock at costs under $50. Po- 
tential U.S. production in the year 27+10 
at $50 or less is slightly over 49 mil- 
lion tons, which is 81% of the total for 
all of the market economy countries at 
that cost level. 

Based on the data presented in tables 9 
and 10, the United States will have to 
invest in the development of new mines 
within the next few years in order to 
maintain or increase current production. 
Assuming fixed capacities for existing 
mines, if U.S. production in 1995 re- 
mained the same as in 1981 (at 54 million 
tons of phosphate rock) , almost 70% of 
the production in 1995 would come from 
mines that have yet to be developed. 

Obviously, much of the potential ton- 
nage shown in figure 26 for the year N+10 
will not actually be produced for a very 
long time, especually from the high-cost 
deposits. If we can assume, however, 
that most of the deposits that could pro- 
duce for under $50 per ton will actually 
be developed over the next 20 years or 
so, it appears that the undeveloped de- 
posits in the United States have a future 
cost advantage over the undeveloped de- 
posits in other countries, at least when 
measuring production costs f.o.b. port or 
acid plant. However, based on the fore- 
going analyses, the U.S. phosphate indus- 
try in Florida will have to invest in the 
next few years to develop new deposits if 
it intends to maintain or expand upon 
current production levels, while Morocco 



49 



TABLE 11. - Estimated potential annual production capacities for undeveloped 
deposits at an average total production cost of less than $100 per ton of 
phosphate rock in the year N+10, by country 

(Thousand metric tons) 



Region and country 


Cost per ton 


Total 




$27-$35 


$35.01-$45 


$45.01-$60 


$60.01-$75 


$75.01-$100 




North America: 

United States. . . . 
Canada 


10,311 
4,677 

300 


21,831 

2,929 
4,000 


34,998 

3,070 
228 

11,000 


16,342 
1,204 

3,435 

2,500 
556 


16,048 
702 

498 

2,094 

130 


99,530 
702 


Mexico 


1,204 


South America: 

Brazil 


498 


Peru. 


3,435 


North Africa: 

Morocco. • 


9,841 


Western Sahara. . . 
Other African 

countries: Angola. 
Middle East: 

Jordan. .......... 


2,929 

228 

4,000 


Saudi Arabia 

Turkey. 


2,500 
130 


Other Middle 

East: Pakistan. , . 
Oceania: Australia 


556 
11,300 


Total 


15,288 


28,760 


49,296 


24,037 


19,472 


136,853 



NOTE. — Dashes indicate that the cost range contains no tonnage. 



may need to invest primarily to expand 
production of existing mines. Almost 
two-thirds of the phosphate from new 
mines in the United States that could be 
produced for under $50 per ton would cost 
in the $40 to $50 range, whereas most 
phosphate rock in Morocco from existing 
mines can be produced for under $40 per 
ton. Therefore, although current produc- 
tion costs are similar, the United States 
might have to spend large amounts of cap- 
ital to maintain production, while Moroc- 
co will not. As a result, the cost ad- 
vantage in the world phosphate export 
industry will likely shift from Florida 
to Morocco. 

There are numerous factors, however, 
that could greatly enhance the outlook 
for phosphate availability from the 
United States, particularly over the long 
run. In addition to the demonstrated re- 
sources evaluated in this study for the 



United States, an estimated 7 billion 
tons of potentially recoverable phosphate 
rock exists at the inferred level (over 
80% is in the Southeast), and over 24 
billion tons of potentially recoverable 
phosphate rock exists at the hypothet- 
ical resource level (over 60% is in the 
Southeast) . 

New deposits will likely be discovered 
(particularly offshore deposits along the 
eastern seaboard) , low-grade material 
could become economically minable, or 
technological advances could enable pro- 
cessing high-magnesium oxide material or 
the mining of deep deposits by the bore- 
hole mining technique. Each of these 
factors could greatly increase the amount 
of phosphate available in the future. 

Of immediate interest to the U.S. phos- 
phate industry is more than 2 billion 
tons of recoverable phosphate rock in 



50 



Florida at the identified resource level 
that contains high-magnesium-oxide mate- 
rial and is presently considered unac- 
ceptable by the industry owing to the 
higher benef iciation costs of producing 
an acceptable acid plant feed. Given the 
progress several phosphate companies and 
the Bureau of Mines have made in develop- 
ing benef iciation technologies to lower 
the grade of magnesium oxide in the phos- 
phate rock product, this additional 2 
billion tons of rock could likely become 
available in the near future, but at a 
higher cost. 



differential between mines and deposits 
determined on an f.o.b. mill or an f.o.b. 
port or acid plant basis is significant, 
this differential is fairly consistent in 
all of the producing countries, A more 
important measure of the cost of phos- 
phate is the cost of shipping phosphate 
from individual producing to consuming 
countries. Although shipping costs from 
producing to consuming countries were not 
included in the analysis that went into 
the construction of the availability 
curves for phosphate, they are presented 
for comparison purposes in table 14. 



EFFECT OF TRANSPORTATION 

The foregoing analyses determined the 
average total production cost for phos- 
phate rock, including a transportation 
charge for each deposit to the nearest 
port or acid plant (or to market in some 
cases). The assumed destinations of the 
rock product (port, acid plant, or mar- 
ket), by country, are shown in table 12. 

Figure 27 provides a cost comparison 
between phosphate rock production from 
each mine or deposit both f.o.b. port or 
acid plant and f.o.b. mill. Table 13 
presents a more definitive breakdown, 
showing average total production costs 
(including a 15% DCFROR) , both f.o.b. 
mill and f.o.b. port or acid plant, on a 
weight-averaged basis. Although the cost 



100 



60 



"o 40 



Costs ore iab, port or acid plont 

CostSQreiQb.mil 



, T' 



20 -f 




5 10 15 20 25 30 35 

TOTAL RECOVERABLE PHOSPHATE ROCK, billion metric tons 

FIGURE 27. - Phosphate rock potentially recover- 
able from all mines and deposits in market economy 
countries. 



The reader can ascertain a more accu- 
rate cost of phosphate rock to a consum- 
ing nation by taking the production cost 
data presented in table 13 and adding 
from table 14 the relevant shipping cost 
to the consuming country. In this way, a 
general comparison can be made as to the 
cost of phosphate rock from competing 
suppliers to a particular consumer. Of 
paramount interest for the U.S. phosphate 
industry are the relative costs between 
the United States and north African 
(primarily Moroccan) phosphate rock pro- 
ducers when freight charges to various 
major phosphate markets are included. 
For phosphate rock delivered to the port 
of Amsterdam, Moroccan phosphate rock has 
a $12 per ton cost advantage (exclusive 
of any tariffs) over U.S. phosphate 
rock. This differential increases to $19 
between deposits in Morocco that are not 
yet producing and undeveloped deposits in 
the Southeastern United States. Con- 
sidering that Morocco is gearing up to 
produce much more phosphoric acid for ex- 
port, it appears that Morocco should fur- 
ther dominate the European market in the 
future. The same situation exists for 
exports to Eastern European countries. 

The United States should maintain its 
comparative advantage in supplying its 
domestic market and the Canadian market 
and appears to have a relative cost ad- 
vantage in the Far East. Both the United 
States and Morocco will likely lose the 
Brazilian market since Brazil is becoming 
self-sufficient in phosphate. 



51 



TABLE 12. - Assumed destinations for phosphate rock, by country 



Country 



North America: 
United States: 

Florida , 

North Carolina. 

Tennessee 

Idaho 

Montana , 

Utah 

Wyoming 

Canada 

Mexico 

South America: 
Brazil 



Colombia 

Peru 

Venezuela 

North Africa: 

Algeria 

Morocco ■ 

Tunisia 

Western Sahara 

Other African countries: 

Angola 

Senegal 

South Africa 

Togo 

Zimbabwe 

Middle East: 

Egypt 

Iraq 

Israel 

Jordan 

Syria 

Turkey 

Oceania: 

Australia 

Christmas Island 

Nauru 

Miscellaneous countries: 

China 

Finland 

India 

U.S.S.R 



Market^ 



E 

E 

IC 

IC 

IC 

IC 

IC 

IC 

IC 

IC 

IC 

E 

IC 

E 
E 
E 
E 

E 
E 
E 
E 
IC 

E 
E 
E 
E 
E 
IC 

E 
E 
E 

IC 

E 

IC 

IC 



Location of port or acid plant 



Tampa or Jacksonville. 

Morehead City. 

Mount Pleasant. 

Pocatello or Soda Springs, ID; Silverbow, MT. 

British Columbia. 

Pocatello or Soda Springs, ID. 

Do. 
Port Maitland. 
Port Belcher or Lazaro Cardenas. 

Uberaba, Santos, Imbitumba, Fortaleza, Rio de 

Janeiro, or Recife. 
Pesca. 

Port Bayovar. 
Moron. 

Annaba. 

Casablanca, Safi, or Jorf Lasfar. 

Sfax or Gabes. 

El Aalun. 

Lacunga River mouth. 
Port Dakar. 
Maputo. 
Port Kpome. 
Salisbury, 

Safaga. 

Khor-Al-Zuber Port. 

Port of Ashdad. 

Aqaba. 

Port Tarfous. 

Elazig. 

Port at Gulf of Carpentaria or Townsville. 

Christmas Island. 

Nauru. 

Local. 

Leningrad, or port in Gulf of Finland. 

Udaipur. 

Local. 



E Export. IC Internal consumption. 



52 



TABLE 13. - Comparison of average total costs per metric ton of phosphate rock, 
f .o.b. mill and f.o.b. port or acid plant, by major producing region 





Potential phosphate 
rock production, 
10^ metric tons 


Average total cost of production 


Region and country 


f.o.b. mill 


f.o.b. port 
or acid plant 


United States: 
Southeast: 

Producers ................. 


981 
2,925 

361 
2,112 

412 
242 

7,125 
14,170 

2,823 
10,000 

1,360 
773 

207 
344 


$25.40 
44.30 

31.30 
92.70 

61.00 
98.40 

32.00 
40.90 

30.90 
50.00 

40.00 
60.50 

29.90 
27.40 


$28.90 
48.30 


Nonproducers • 


West: 

Producers 


43.00 


Nonproducers 


104.30 


South America: 

Producers 


64.30 


Nonoroducers ................ 


105.30 


North Africa: 

Producers 


34.60 


Nonproducers ................ 


46.60 


Other African countries: 

Producers 


37.70 


Nonproducers 


59.50 


Middle East: 

Producers 


50.60 


Nonproducers ................ 


69.40 


Oceania: 

Producers 


53.90 


Nonproducers 


53.80 



^ Costs are weighted high 
the West. 



owing to the effect of high costs at underground mines in 



CONCLUSIONS 



The agricultural industry worldwide is 
dependent upon the supply of fertilizers 
derived from phosphate rock. In an at- 
tempt to assess worldwide phosphate rock 
resources , the Bureau of Mines evaluated 
201 mines and deposits in market economy 
countries and investigated the resource 
potential of 17 mines and deposits in 
China and the U.S.S.R. The selected 
mines and deposits include all known re- 
sources of phosphate rock at the demon- 
strated resource level that met the cri- 
teria of the study and that can be mined 
and milled with current technology. 

Approximately 34.2 billion tons of 
phosphate rock is potentially recoverable 
from the demonstrated resources of 201 
mines and deposits evaluated in market 
economy countries. An additional 1.5 
billion tons of phosphate rock is poten- 
tially recoverable from 17 mines and 



deposits in China and the U.S.S.R. Mor- 
occo and Western Sahara have the largest 
resource, with 21 billion tons of recov- 
erable phosphate rock, followed by the 
United States with 6.4 billion tons. Of 
the approximately 1.6 billion tons of 
phosphate rock that is potentially recov- 
erable at total production costs (includ- 
ing a 15% DCFROR on all investments) of 
under $30 per ton, 55% is in the United 
States and 39% in Morocco. All of this 
potential low-cost resource is from mines 
that are currently producing. Approxi- 
mately 10.6 billion tons of phosphate 
rock is potentially recoverable at pro- 
duction costs under $40 per ton, includ- 
ing 6.9 billion tons from Morocco (66%) 
and 1.4 billion tons from the United 
States (13%). Of this 10.6 billion tons, 
7.2 billion tons (68%) is from currently 
producing mines, including 5.9 billion 
tons from producing mines in Morocco and 



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54 



980 million tons from producing mines in 
the United States. There are 15.7 bil- 
lion tons of phosphate rock estimated to 
be recoverable at total production costs 
of less than $50 per ton from market 
economy countries; Morocco accounts for 
6.9 billion tons (44%), and the United 
States accounts for 3.3 billion tons 
(21%). Phosphate rock production poten- 
tially available at costs under $50 per 
ton from producing mines amounts to 11.2 
billion tons, of which 5.9 billion tons 
is from Morocco (52%) and 1.1 billion 
tons (10%) is from the United States. 

Potential annual capacity from produc- 
ing mines in the United States could de- 
cline to 16,4 million tons by 1995 as the 
demonstrated resources of producing mines 
become exhausted. Since actual produc- 
tion may be at less than capacity levels, 
this decline will not be as rapid as in- 
dicated. However, the annual capacity 
for producing mines in Morocco in 1995 is 
estimated to increase to 31,3 million 
tons (compared with actual production in 
1981 of 19,7 million tons). Assuming 
fixed capacities for existing mines, if 
U.S. production remained the same as in 
1981 (at 54 million tons of phosphate 
rock), nearly 70% of the 1995 production 
would come from mines that have yet to be 
developed. Undeveloped deposits in the 
United States, if developed concurrently, 
would have a potential annual capacity of 
49 million tons of phosphate rock in the 
year N+10 of the analysis, at production 
costs under $50 per ton. Slightly over 
one-third of this capacity could be pro- 
duced for under $40 per ton, and slightly 
less than two-thirds would cost in the 
$40 to $50 range. In compsrison, most of 
the competing phosphate rock from exist- 
ing mines in Morocco can be produced for 
under $40 per ton. This fact, combined 
with Morocco's cost advantage in shipping 
phosphate rock to many of the consuming 
markets, indicates that the cost advan- 
tage in the world phosphate export indus- 
try may likely shift from Florida to 
Morocco, Morocco is also constructing 
acid plants to process phosphate rock. 



which means that as domestic phosphate 
rock costs increase, the United States 
will also face serious competition in the 
export markets for phosphoric acid and 
related fertilizer products. However, it 
should be stressed that the above situa- 
tion applies only to competition for cer- 
tain major export markets. The United 
States remains the largest consumer of 
phosphate fertilizers and should remain 
as the main supplier of phosphate rock 
products to Canada and the Far East. 
Even if the U.S. phosphate industry does 
succomb to competition from Morocco in 
certain major markets, its economic via- 
bility is not in question. Also, a 
slower rate of growth would extend the 
life of domestic phosphate resources. 

Although the demonstrated phosphate 
rock resources of producing mines in the 
United States are declining, developing 
mines and explored deposits in the United 
States contain a demonstrated resource of 
2.2 billion tons of recoverable phosphate 
rock that could be developed and produced 
for under $50 per ton (including a 15% 
DCFROR). In addition, huge untapped re- 
sources are present at the inferred and 
hypothetical resource levels. Any tech- 
nological breakthroughs (and some have 
occurred) that enabled lower cost benefi- 
ciation of high-magnesium-oxide phosphate 
or lowered the estimated production costs 
of low-grade or deeper lying phosphate 
would significantly enhance the export 
position of the United States, 

The U,S, phosphate industry has been 
the world leader in the output and export 
of phosphate rock and related products 
but is incurring higher production costs 
from new mines and facing increasing for- 
eign competition (particularly from north 
Africa and the Middle East), Although 
the United Staes has sufficient phosphate 
rock resources to satisfy domestic con- 
sumption for many years to come, its 
ability to economically compete in the 
major export markets will face increasing 
challenges in the future. 



55 



REFERENCES 



1, Zellars-Williams , Inc. Phosphate 
Rock End-Use Products and Their Costs 
(contract J0377000). BuMines OFR 102-79, 
1978, 73 pp. 

2. Stowasser, W. F. Phosphate Rock. 
BuMines Mineral Commodity Profile, 1983, 
18 pp. 



3. 



Phosphate Rock. Ch. in 



BuMines Minerals Yearbook 1981, v. 1, 
pp. 649-666. 



4. 



Phosphate Rock. Ch. in 



BuMines Minerals Yearbook 1973, v, 1, 
pp. 1019-1035. 

5. Lewis, R. W. Phosphate Rock. Ch. 
in Minerals Yearbook 1963, v, 1, pp. 877- 
898. 



12. Clarke, G. Mexican Phosphate - A 
Strive for Self-Suf f iciency . Ind. Min. 
(London), No. 152, May 1980, p. 82. 

13. Escandon, F. J. Santo Domingo 
B.C.S., Project Description. Baja Cali- 
fornia, Mexico. Phosphate Field Trip. 
Roca Fosforica Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. , 
Feb. 1981, 24 pp. 

14. Rivera, J. 0. General Geology of 
Phosphate Deposits of Southern Baja, Cal- 
ifornia. Notes prep, for Baja California 
Phosphate Field Trip. Feb. 1981, 11 pp.; 
available upon request from R. J. Fantel, 
BuMines, Denver, CO, 

15. British Sulphur Corp. Ltd. (Lon- 
don) . World Survey of Phosphate Depos- 
its. 4th ed., 1980, 138 pp. 



6. Fantel, R. J. , D. E, Sullivan, and 
G. R. Peterson. Phosphate Rock Avail- 
ability - Domestic. A Minerals Avail- 
ability Program Appraisal. BuMines IC 
8937, 1983, 57 pp. 

7. U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. 
Bureau of Mines. Principles of a 
Resource/Reserve Classification for Min- 
erals. U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 831, 
1980, 5 pp. 

8. Zellars-Williams, Inc. Evaluation 
of Phosphate Deposits of Florida Using 
the Minerals Availability System (con- 
tract J0377000). BuMines OFR 112-78, 
1978, 196 pp.; NTIS PB 286 648 AS. 

9. U.S. Geological Survey. Sedimen- 
tary Phosphate Resource Classification 
System of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and 
the U.S. Geological Survey. U.S. Geol. 
Survey Circ. 882, 1982, 9 pp. 

10. Stowasser, W. F. Ch. in Mineral 
Facts and Problems, 1980 Edition. Bu- 
Mines B 671, 1981, pp. 673-682. 

11. Sandvick, P. 0., and A. Erdosh. 
Geology of the Carglll Phosphate Deposit 
in Northern Ontario. CIM Bull., v. 70, 
Jan. 1977, pp. 90-96. 



16. Engineering and Mining Journal. 
Tunisia Gears Up To Expand Output of 
Phosphates. V. 183, Aug. 1982, p. 45. 

17. Arab Federation of Chemical Ferti- 
lizer Producers. Quarterly Journal, Is- 
sue 1, Mar. 1981, p. 32. 

18. Phosphorus and Potassium. No. 
110, Nov. -Dec. 1980, p. 21. 

19. Blue, T. A., and R. Portillo. CEH 
Marketing Research Report, Phosphate 
Rock. Chemical Economics Handbook — SRI 
International, Mar. 1980, p. 760.0007P. 

20. Mojica, A., and E. Pedro. Fosfa- 
tos (Phosphates). Ch. in Recursos Miner- 
ales de Colombia (Mineral Resources of 
Colombia), Publicationes Geologicas Es- 
peclales del INGEOMINAS, Bogota, No. 1, 
1978, pp. 237-268. 

21. Stowasser, W. F. Phosphate Rock, 
Sec, in BuMines Mineral Commodity Sum- 
maries, 1982, p, 113, 

22. World Mining, Major Phosphate 
Mines Ruined by Poor Economy, V. 34, No. 
11, Oct. 1981, p. 80. 



56 



23. Roux, E. H. The South African 
Phosphate Rock Industry. Fert. Soc. S. 
Afr. J., V. 2, 1975, p. 23. 

24. Raj as than State Mines and Minerals 
Ltd. (Udaipur, India). A Brief Introduc- 
tion. 1981, 10 pp. 

25. World Mining Catalog. Survey and 
Directory Number, Ch. on Pakistan. 1981. 

26. Industrial Minerals. Pakistan, 
Green Light for PO4 Project. No. 163, 
April 1981, p. 15. 

27. Notholt, A, J. G. The Economic 
Geology and Development of Igneous Phos- 
phate Deposits in Europe and the U.S.S.R. 
Econ. Geol., v. 74, No. 2, 1979, pp. 339- 
350. 

28. Strishkov, V. V. Mining Annual 
Review (London). 1979, p. 17. 

29. Rule, A. R. Characterization and 
Beneficiation Studies on Haikow Mine 
Phosphate Ore. Albany Research Center, 
BuMines, Interim Rep. 5, April 1980, 46 
pp.; available from Albany Research Cen- 
ter, Albany, OR. 

30. Li, T. M., and K. P. Wang. Chi- 
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Operating Cost Estimating System Hand- 
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CO. 

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System Methodology. BuMines IC 8820, 
1980, 45 pp. 

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2d ed., 1974, 449 pp. 

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57 



APPENDIX A.— PHOSPHORIC ACID PRODUCTION AND COSTS 



Most of the phosphate rock produced in 
the United States and the rest of the 
world is used to manufacture fertilizer 
products (phosphoric acids) to be used by 
the agricultural industry. The various 
fertilizer products produced from phos- 
phate rock are wet-process phosphoric 
acids, normal superphosphates, triple 
superphosphates, monoammonium phosphates, 
and diammonium phosphates. Direct appli- 
cation of ground phosphate rock is used 
in many regions of the world, i.e. , phos- 
phate rock is applied directly to acidic 
soils. 

The quality of phosphate rock for acid 
production is affected by the contained 
amounts of such deleterious materials as 
magnesium (MgO) , iron and aluminum (Fe203 
plus AI2O3), calcium (CaO) , chlorine, and 
others. These impurities can cause prob- 
lems during the production of phosphoric 
acids and tend to decrease the profit- 
ability of these operations by increasing 
costs. 

The magnesium oxide content is undesir- 
able because highly viscous magnesium 
phosphate "sludges" can form during the 
production of phosphoric acids, which can 
lower the operation's productivity and 
increase the energy requirements. The 
magnesium will also precipitate fluorine 
in the reactor stage of the wet-acid pro- 
cess, which causes plugging of the gypsum 
filters (33) . ^ As a rule of thumb a mag- 
nesium oxide content of approximately 
1% or higher will cause these problems 
and is typically unacceptable to an acid 
plant. In the United States there pres- 
ently are Government programs and indus- 
try research directed to solving this 
problem (appendix C) . 

The iron and aluminum oxide content is 
also highly undesirable because it too 
forms viscous sludges and makes the acids 
"sticky." These problems occur if the 

'Underlined numbers in parentheses re- 
fer to items in the list of references 
preceding this appendix. 



combined iron and aluminum content (also 
called the I + A content) is greater than 
2.5% to 3% and often market penalties are 
added. 

The calcium content of the rock can af- 
fect the sulfuric acid requirements of 
phosphoric acid production. If the CaO: 
P2O5 ratio is greater than 1.6, excessive 
sulfuric acid will be required for the 
acidulation process. 

Chlorine can cause excessive corrosion 
in the phosphate rock processing equip- 
ment. A chlorine content greater than 
0.2% is presently considered undesirable. 

Other materials are also considered de- 
leterious to the processing of phosphate 
rock to its many end uses. These include 
fluorine (because of air pollution regu- 
lations in the United States), organic 
matter (because greater than 4% to 5% CO2 
can cause foaming in acid production) , 
and trace metals (which also can cause 
the precipitation of sludges in acids). 

The phosphate rock feed for acid pro- 
duction is usually dried and ground, al- 
though wet phosphate rock has recently 
become acceptable to some plants, partic- 
ularly in the United States. Calcination 
of phosphate rock is not usually neces- 
sary prior to acid production and can be 
a very costly step if required; however, 
calcined acid plant feed produces very 
high quality phosphoric acid ( 33 ) , 

The most common fertilizer product is 
phosphoric acid, produced by the wet- 
process method. The principal reaction 
involved in all wet-process phosphoric 
acid plants is the digestion by sulfuric 
acid of tricalcium phosphate, the pri- 
mary constituent of phosphate ores. This 
results in the precipitation of gypsum 
and the formation of phosphoric acid 
in solution. Most phosphoric acid pro- 
cesses digest the phosphate rock with 
sulfuric acid; in Europe there are some 
processes that utilize nitric acid for 
this digestion (33). 



58 



The basic process by which phosphoric 
acid is produced by the wet-process meth- 
od is shown in figure A-1. Phosphate 
rock is fed continuously into a stirred 
reactor vessel containing a slurry of 
unattached phosphate rock, sulfuric 
acid, and gypsum crystals. The trical- 
cium phosphate in the ore is dissolved 
by the free sulfuric acid, forming phos- 
phoric acid and calcium sulfate; a pre- 
cipitate of gypsum as filterable crystal 
will subsequently form. The gypsum crys- 
tals, after being increased in size by 
recirculating the acid slurry in a se- 
ries of reactors, are separated from the 
acid by a filtration process. The gyp- 
sum is then sent to waste disposal areas 
since there is presently no economic mar- 
ket for this product. The phosphoric 
acid at this time is weak, containing 
only 28% to 30% P2O5, with small quanti- 
ties of sulfuric acid still present. The 
strength of the acid is increased by 
evaporating water from it. This is the 
stage where contaminants (particularly 
iron, aluminum, and magnesium oxides) can 
cause problems since they tend to start 



precipitating out of the acid as a 
"sludge," which is difficult to store, 
ship, or handle. In addition, these pre- 
cipitated contaminants develop as com- 
plex phosphate compounds containing large 
amounts of P2O5, reducing the grade of 
the acid produced. The phosphoric acid 
will increase in quality through vacuum 
evaporation stages to approximately 30% 
to 45% P205* These are only nominal 
strengths, but thorough clarification 
(removal of much of the sludge) will re- 
sult in typical merchant-grade phosphoric 
acid (approximately 54% P2O5) (33) . 

Merchant-grade acid is one of the most 
common products from a wet-process phos- 
phoric acid plant. It has been more 
prevalent in recent years because it is 
low in impurities; therefore the acid can 
be shipped without large amounts of pre- 
cipitated solids. 

Typical production costs for phosphoric 
acid plants around the world, summarized 
by region, are shown in table A-1. These 
costs include processing phosphate rock 



Vacuum 



Steam 



Water removal 
vacuum jets 



Vacuum 



H2S04 




Dry-ground 


REACTOR 


phosphate rock 
























FLASH 




COOLERS 




(HEAT 
REMOVAL) 


^, ■!" r> n m ^. 













Vacuum 
jets 



FILTER 



Gypsum 



JA 



steam- 



EVAPORATOR 



EVAPORATORS 



52% to 54% P^O^ 

'acid 

STORAGE 



Some 30% acid 



Merchant 
acid 



Pond DAP 
disposal 



AGING AND 
CLARIFICATION 



54% acid 



DAP 
GTSP 



Acid sales 



Sludge acid to triple 
superphosphate 



FIGURE A-1, • Wet-process phosphoric acid (J). 



59 



from a stockpile to merchant-grade acid facility, and disposing of the byproduct 
in storage tanks, producing sulfuric gypsum, 
acid from liquid sulfur delivered to the 



TABLE A-1. - Phosphoric acid production costs, by region 



Region 



Cost' 



North America $192 

South America 203 

Western Europe 203 



Region 



Cost' 



Asia $202 

Middle East 188 

Africa 197 



Costs are in 1981 U.S. dollars per metric ton of P2O5. 



Source: These costs were developed by Zellars-Williams , Inc., Lakeland, FL, under 
contract J0377000. 



60 



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65 



APPENDIX C. —PRESENT RESEARCH IN PHOSPHATE 



The following sections highlight the 
present research activity in phosphate 
in both the industry and the Bureau of 
Mines. Not all research will be dis- 
cussed, just the most significant in 
terms of the future potential for im- 
proved phosphate recovery. These new 
processes, if successful, would increase 
the world phosphate resource potential. 

RECOVERY OF PHOSPHATE ROCK FROM 
DEPOSITS CONTAINING HIGH MAGNESIUM 

As previously discussed, the majority 
of phosphate rock produced in the United 
States is used for the manufacture of 
wet-process phosphoric acid, particularly 
in Florida and North Carolina. Increased 
amounts of magnesium oxide in the phos- 
phate rock feed increase the viscosity of 
the acid, causing problems in producing 
standard diammonium phosphate. Tradi- 
tionally phosphate rock over the years, 
especially from central Florida, has con- 
tained highly acceptable limits of MgO 
(lower than 0.5%). Much of the future 
phosphate resource potential from Florida 
(the southern extension) occurs in depos- 
its containing presently unacceptable 
limits of magnesium oxide (greater than 
1%). Presently, research work is under- 
way to solve this problem by developing a 
method or methods to beneficlate high- 
magnesium phosphate to lower the MgO con- 
tent to within the acceptable limit (1% 
or less). The Bureau of Mines Research 
Center in Tuscaloosa, AL, is presently 
working on this problem and has recently 



published a report dealing with this is- 
sue (35). Numerous phosphate companies 
in Florida are also working towards solv- 
ing this problem. 

BOREHOLE (SLURRY) MINING 
OF PHOSPHATE ORE 

Presently, the Bureau of Mines is con- 
ducting research out of its Twin Cities, 
MN, center, in conjunction with a Florida 
phosphate producer, to develop a method 
to mine deep untapped phosphate resources 
in the southeastern United States (par- 
ticularly in northeastern Florida). This 
method, called borehole mining, is a pro- 
cess in which deep phosphate ore is mined 
from the surface through a 'borehole using 
a water-jet cutting system to slurrify 
the ore, which is then pumped up to the 
surface. 

BENEFICIATION OF LOW-GRADE 
WESTERN PHOSPHATES 

Recent Bureau of Mines research at the 
Albany, OR, center has been dealing with 
methods to economically recover low-grade 
western phosphate resources. Flotation 
procedures have been studied, particular- 
ly a silica-carbonate flotation technique 
now in a pilot plant stage with industry. 
Other work by the Bureau and certain com- 
panies consists of methods to beneficiate 
unaltered phosphate resources and the 
feasibility of utilizing low-grade phos- 
phatic shales as direct acid feed. 



»0.S. CPO 1»M-S»5-»1»-S«S« 



INT.-BU.OF MINES, PGH., PA. 27703 



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